I’m not trying to make this a competition, but I’m one of Taylor Swift’s biggest fans. Her music is integral to my upbringing and a major source of conversation between me and my friends. Following the amazing success of her re-records, most recently 1989 (Taylor’s Version), her honor as TIME magazine’s person of the year, and of course, her Eras Tour, you can’t really go anywhere without hearing Swift’s name pop up. And if you thought you had heard her name enough, think again, because there’s a new fan theory that Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is in the works. BTW, it involves a ton of A-list celebs.
Reputation was Swift’s sixth studio album, released on Nov. 10, 2017. This album was Swift’s final project under Big Machine Records, and is also, IMO, her most iconic piece of work. Reputation was released three years after 1989 and was also Swift’s return to music, social media, and public appearances.
She announced Reputation by deleting all of her previous social media posts and replaced them with a video of a snake hissing, which many thought was a reference to her infamous feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian following the release of the rapper’s song, “Famous.”
Reputation is a very different style from Swift’s previous work, and I think that’s why it’s such a hit. Swift gained legal rights to re-record Reputation in November 2023.
According to Rolling Stone, record contracts often state that musicians can’t re-record their music until five years after the release date. So, since Swift was recently granted the legal rights to Reputation, fans have been picking up on Easter eggs and other clues that they believe point to the re-release of the album, and they think it’s coming very soon.
While there are many fan theories surrounding the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version), the latest is the most believable, TBH.
On Jan. 19, eagle-eyed fans noticed that various A-List celebrities changed their profile pictures on Instagram to black and white photographs. While this may just seem like a coincidence, I’m not believing it. Many of these celebs are some of Swift’s closest friends, such as Keleigh Teller, John Legend, and Travis Kelce.
ICYMI, during the Reputation era, many of Swift’s photos were in black and white, and of course, the album cover itself is in black and white. So, are Swift’s friends helping her promote Reputation (Taylor’s Version) ahead of its release? This theory is one that I can get behind. Are you “…Ready for it?” because I know I am.
A TikTok posted by the user @lorenjadeewebb on Jan. 20 shows various celebrities on Instagram who had a black and white profile picture and all of the ones shown were of accounts that belong to those close to Swift. The comments under the video featured a mixture of reactions from Swifties with some saying “the list is growing,” and “Until Mr. Ryan Reynolds joins in… I’m not too sure.”
Other people think that this isn’t a fan theory, and instead, just a coincidence, considering many of these celebrities already had a black and white profile pictures to begin with. One user commented, “y’all most of them have had these pictures already. Please relax.” Another user wrote, “Idk about this. Like, she’s gonna call people and say, make your social profiles b&w to hint what’s coming. Lol i just don’t see it.”
Even if this theory is merely a coincidence, I still am holding out hope for a Reputation (Taylor’s Version) release this year, because this isn’t the only clue pointing to its release. At the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 7, Swift wore a green glitter dress that was giving major Reputation vibes. On Jan. 10, she wore a green velvet dress and brown boots that looked like they had slithering snakes on them. People also thought that this tweet was teasing Reputation (Taylor’s Version) because of 6 capitalized S’s, the letter that looks like a snake.
I don’t know what to think anymore. Until we get confirmation that Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is happening,, you can find me constantly checking celebrities’ Instagram profile pictures. BTW, if I change my profile picture to a black and white photo, don’t worry about it.