Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated ‘Midnights’ album on October 21, 2022. In her music video for new single ‘Anti-Hero’, a controversial scene has been edited amidst backlashes. While looking down at the scale, the 32-year-old sang the line, “I stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror” before the camera panned to her looking at a second version of herself shaking her head no.
Swift has previously spoken about her struggles with body image, including in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana. She has also opened up about personal nature of ‘Anti-Hero’, calling it “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” as she’s never “delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”
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Which Scene Was Removed From Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ MV?
In Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero‘ music video, a controversial scene has been edited amidst backlash. In the scene Swift steps onto a bathroom scale which reads “fat”. The clip om Apple Music, now, no longer shows a close-up of the scale. Now, the singer simply seen looking at her clone with a shocked expression as she stands in the bathroom.
The decision to remove the scene comes after fans took to social media to brand the singer ‘fatphobic’ for “perpetuating that being overweight is bad.” Others slammed the decision to remove the scene, citing Swift’s bravery in addressing body image after she had dealt with eating disorder.
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What Is The Song ‘Anti-Hero’ About?
Previously, Swift has noted that ‘Anti-Hero’ single in her ‘Midnights’ album talks about her insecurities. “This song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves,” she explained in a video released ahead of ‘Midnights‘’ arrival.
Following the backlash, the hosts of The View came to Swift’s defense on Tuesday’s episode. Sunny Hostin noted of the critics, “They missed the point. For someone who’s an artist, she gets to have agency over her artistry. She was describing a personal experience, and quite frankly, it’s a personal experience a lot of women experience. I’ve experienced it, and men.”
Whoopi Goldberg added, “Why are you wasting your time on this? You all want to say something about Taylor Swift, leave her a** alone!”
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