Taylor Swift hid a million secret messages within the jaw-dropping music video for “Look What You Made Me Do.” She uses subtle clues to throw shade at everyone from her ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris to her arch-nemeses Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Katy Perry. She even spends a good half of the video making fun of herself. Did you catch all of these?
1. Nils Sjoberg is dead.
The first scene in the video takes place in a dark, eerie graveyard. Look closely at one of the tombstones and you’ll spot the name Nils Sjoberg. You’ve heard that name before — it’s the pseudonym that Taylor used to write Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s hit “This Is What You Came For.” At first, she lied about hiding behind the name, but eventually, the song’s official writing credits were changed from Nils Sjoberg to Taylor Swift.
2. Taylor’s nails grow into claws.
Zombie Taylor buries 2014 Met Gala Taylor in a grave. Met Gala Taylor has prim, short, nude nails and a matte red lip — ultra ’50s, which used to be her signature style. Then the scene cuts to New Taylor bathing in diamonds, showing off long red talons and a glossy red lip.
At first glance, you might think the long nails are calling out Kim Kardashian, since her sisters typically rock long coffin nails. But Kim actually wears her nails on the short side. So I’m guessing these are claws. Tiger claws. Katy Perry tiger claws, since Katy calls herself a tiger and Taylor a sheep.
VEVO
3. Kim’s robbery.
This is seriously messed up: last fall, Kim was tied up and gagged in a bathtub while robbers stole $10 million worth of jewelry, including diamonds. Given those specific circumstances, doesn’t the image above look kind of shady?
4. Snakes.
Taylor is literally sitting on a throne surrounded by snakes. Yeah, she’s leaning into that snake thing hard.
5. Et tu, Brute?
Look under Taylor’s hand at the words engraved on the throne. If you studied Shakespeare, you know that Julius Caesar supposedly uttered this line (translation: “Even you, Brutus?”) when he was being stabbed to death and recognized his friend Brutus in the crowd. Taylor might be calling out all her supposed “friends” who didn’t stand up for her amid the drama last year.
VEVO
6. She’s wearing her snake rings.
7. She’s sipping tea and throwing shade.
That tea cup? Not an accident. Taylor doesn’t do anything by accident.
8. The snakeskin dress.
You know how F. Scott Fitzgerald throws a reference to “green light” on literally every single page of The Great Gatsby? “Look What You Made Me Do” is Taylor’s Gatsby, and snakes are her green light.
VEVO
9. Katy Perry.
This short blonde wig is a total Katy Perry reference if I’ve ever seen one. They could be twins. EXCEPT! Taylor is holding a Grammy Award right here — something Katy’s never won. Taylor has 10.
10. Oversized sweatshirt + thigh-high boots.
A combo often worn by Kim Kardashian and her sisters, and recently popularized by Kanye West’s fashion line Yeezy.
VEVO
11. Rows of models.
Kanye’s Yeezy models stand in tight rows like just like this. Don’t think it’s a coincidence.
12. This “Bad Blood”-inspired look.
The Old Taylor isn’t completely dead — this black latex look is pretty similar to what she wore in the “Bad Blood” video, probably because that bad blood still exists.
VEVO
13. Squad.
If Taylor is wiping her reputation clean and leaving behind scraps of her old life, kicking her squad to the curb would be a huge part of that. In this scene, the word “squad” alternates with cartoons of her cats Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson in flashing lights.
14. “I <3 T.S.”
‘Twas the tank top seen ’round the world. Oh, Tom Hiddleston. We hardly knew you.
VEVO
15. 13.
Again, Taylor isn’t subtle. In this scene, New Taylor stands atop a pile of crawling Old Taylors — including this curly-haired country singer in a sparkly dress with the number 13 scrawled on her hand in Sharpie. Taylor used to draw the number on as a good-luck ritual before her concerts.
16. Her Vogue boots.
She shakes up her image with every new album. This time around, she began shifting from her 1989 look to her Reputation look with the help of a transformative Vogue cover in April 2016. She wore these precariously high Vetements boots to herald her new look. In “Look What You Made Me Do,” New Taylor wears those same boots to kick an Old Taylor out of sight. And Old Taylor happens to be wearing a t-shirt signed with the names of her friends, Selena and Gigi. Now that is how you do symbolism, folks.
VEVO
17. Kimye vs. Taylor.
The video hits home the Kimye vs. Taylor feud when a version of Taylor dressed in a snakeskin dress and fur coat taps away on her phone and explains she’s “getting receipts.” It’s a total reference to Kim Snapchatting the secret footage of Taylor’s phone call with Kanye. The next version of Taylor in line is, of course, wearing the same sequined one-shouldered gown that Tay wore to the 2009 VMAs that kicked off the feud in the first place.
