Taylor Swift fans have been delighted after spotting an easter egg in the star’s new video that directly condemns music manager Scooter Braun.
Buried in the video for “The Man”, which was unveiled yesterday (27 February), is a subway sign banning the use of scooters – which was quickly interpreted as a Braun slam.
Surrounding the sign are the titles of Swift’s past albums, all scrawled in graffiti. Nearby is a sign reading: “Missing: If found, return to Taylor Swift”.
On Twitter, Swift fans were ecstatic over the slam. “WTF I’m screaming!” one wrote. Another added: “I am here for this whole thing,” in between hand-clapping emojis.
Swift and Braun, who manages acts including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, were involved in a high-profile war of words at the end of 2019.
Swift said that Braun had bought her entire back catalogue of master recordings in an attempt to exert “tyrannical control” over her body of work.
“My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” Swift said at the time.
Braun later used social media to urge Swift to call off her fans, after he accused them of sending repeated death threats his way. He also disputed Swift’s version of events when it came to the selling of her masters.
“The Man” has been interpreted as Swift’s musical response to an industry that has always undermined her power and her opinions purely because of her gender.
The track’s video, which Swift herself directed, sees the star buried under prosthetics and playing a male version of herself named “Tyler Swift”.
