Taylor Swift drags Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta in new The Man music video
27 February 2020, 13:16
"The Man" music video has been directed entirely by Taylor Swift, and comes after the success of the track when she released her latest album, Lover. The video includes Taylor in special effects makeup as a man, who can do whatever the hell he wants because...he's a man.
Swifties, This is not a drill. The music video for Taylor Swift's "The Man" is finally here and it throws major shade at music manager Scooter Braun and her former record label boss Scott Borchetta.
Directed entirely by Taylor herself, the video comes after the success of her album Lover, and features Taylor as well, a man, who gets to party, run a business, man-spread, go to strip clubs, and well, still be praised for everything he does, just for being a man. Sound familiar?
READ MORE: Taylor Swift blasts Scooter Braun after being 'banned' from performing her music on TV
When the video premiered on YouTube at 7am EST, over 50,000 fans were waiting on the page to watch, and they weren't disappointed, as the video echoed the rhetoric that men can literally do nothing and be the best.
The best part of the video? We don't actually find out that Taylor is the man until the end of the video, when the character from the story we see, marches over to her in the director's chair, and she gives the direction that he needs to "try to be sexier, and more likeable" - shade.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift accepts apology from comedian who called her "too skinny" in Miss Americana
It then cuts to Taylor's transformation when we find out that the man was her in prosthetics all along (a makeup job well done in our opinion), and echoed the songs much-needed attack on every day sexism. Bravo, Taylor.
It could also be an homage to her past drama with ex-record label Big Machine Records, ran by Scott Borchetta, who took control of her music when she was just starting out, and who has now sold the masters to Scooter Braun.
In November last year, Taylor posted an open letter on Twitter calling out Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta for allegedly barring her from performing her own music at the upcoming AMAs, where she was honoured as the Artist of the Decade. Taylor also revealed that she has been prohibited from using her music in an upcoming Netflix produced documentary about her life.
Scooter Braun is best known for managing popular artists like Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande. Over the summer, Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber both spoke out in support of Braun in the feud.
Don’t know what else to do pic.twitter.com/1uBrXwviTS
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 14, 2019
Fans have also quickly noticed that in the video, there was a sign that pointed out 'no scooters', as well as a "missing" poster that read "if found, return to Taylor Swift" surrounded by her album titles - in reference to the albums she recorded and no longer owns because of the label.
Swift's dad also gets a mention in the video, as he stars as the tennis umpire, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson voices the man - we love to see it.
Fans have naturally gone wild for the video, and have already given us some of the best reactions:
WE LOVE TO SEE IT#TheManMusicVideo @taylorswift13 @taylornation13
— 𝓛𝑜𝓋𝑒, Allie 🏳️🌈💗🏹 (@taybeautifulll) February 27, 2020
SO proud of you! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/EDZoOFuC5i
KARMA IS A BADASS BITCH named Taylor Swift 💪👠💼
— Holly Armstrong (@HollyArmstr0ng) February 27, 2020
No SCOOTERS allowed in 13th Street Station while THE MAN is doing her glittery business. #TaylorSwift #TheManMusicVideo @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/QUcSpSjmY2
IS THIS HER SAYING THAT EVERYONE THINK SHE CAPITALISES ON HER BREAKUPS #TheManMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/E2Zq8oB6c4
— Zoe delicate stan #1 🏹 (@delicatestan1) February 27, 2020
idk who needs to hear this, but NO ONE has this range #TheManMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/0zsk0s0o4B
— bea⁷ is the man (@violentforest) February 27, 2020
“If found return to Taylor Swift”
— dillan☁️-lfw n1 (@secretmoments13) February 27, 2020
“No Scooters”
this scene means so much, she’s saying scott and scooter completely pissed all over her masters and everyone’s just letting it happen because they’re men. BS!! #TheManMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/FZo2yaWJmB
🥚 | Taylor portraying the unrealistic expectations women are held to in the last scene of #TheManMusicVideo:
— Taylor Swift Updates (@swiftsupdates) February 27, 2020
The Man: “Was that last take more what you had in mind?”
Taylor: “Pretty good. Could you try to be sexier, maybe more likeable this time?” pic.twitter.com/y7lxaii4LH
Before it was released, fans already had theories about who would be starring in the video, as Taylor posted a cryptic tweet that seemed to match perfectly with a speech she did at Billboard Women in Music awards back in December.
There are 19 hands in the hallway
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) February 25, 2020
... but only 2 days until The Man Music Video pic.twitter.com/pePLcEwxtQ
She wrote: "There are 19 hands in the hallway...but only 2 days until The Man Music Video", and fans were quick to point out that those hands could belong to the 18 women (plus herself) she mentioned at the awards, including Lizzo and Billie Eilish.
Others also noted that the day of the music video's release, 27th February, was also the same day in history that America's 19th Amendment was challenged and dismissed by the Supreme Court in 1922, which gave women the right to vote.
Feb 27... 19 hands...🤔🧐🤪 pic.twitter.com/6HIkH7XoO5
— Ashley (@aahearn16) February 25, 2020
Kanye’s house/ The Man mv... i stand a genius pic.twitter.com/Kz4EZu9giK
— ootw FAN ACCOUNT (@disneyparklove1) February 25, 2020
One fan account even pointed out that the artwork for the song represents Kanye West's house, and now that we've seen the video, we can totally back this theory - with a big screw you hidden message from the time that he interrupted her speech. Sorry about it.
Taylor has officially reigned supreme as the queen of making music videos. Watch the full video below.
Taylor Swift - The Man (Official Video)
