The last great Summer of Gossip was summer 2016. God that summer was fun and full of shenanigans. Before the Worldwide Tiddlebanging Tour really took off, Taylor had some old business to take care of: breaking up with Calvin Harris for REASONS. She could never just leave a relationship as an adult and say that she just wasn’t into Calvin anymore. No, it had to be hyper-dramatic. She wrote a song for Calvin and he didn’t give her credit, except maybe she didn’t want credit. Then he dissed her in an interview and she wanted credit and on and on. The song was “This Is What You Came For,” written by Taylor, performed by Rihanna and produced/mixed by Calvin Harris. When the song first came out, the song’s authorship was credited to Nils Sjöberg. During the messy breakup with Calvin, Taylor confirmed that she was and is “Nils Sjöberg.”
Why bring this up? Because it’s an important relic of gossip history, for sure. But Taylor has probably done it again. Last night, Taylor posted this “cover” of her song “Look What You Made Me Do” which appeared on the opening credits of Killing Eve:
VERY STOKED about this cover of lwymmd on @KillingEve by Jack leopards & the dolphin club!! pic.twitter.com/fhkLfOssfm
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 25, 2020
As it turns out, Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club does not exist. No one has heard of them before. They’ve never had any recording or writing credit. The Snake Fam did a deeper dive and look:
so this band doesnt exist past the look what you made me do cover and one of the producers is…NILS SJOBERG https://t.co/sk6ZGribrN
— Sara (@stateoftay16) May 25, 2020
Which is a fun fact, but also… who the hell is singing the damn song? I completely buy that Taylor Swift is running another snake mystery for her fans to discover, but who is Jack Leopards really and why does he sound like a bad Tom Waits impersonator? Turns out, it might be Taylor’s brother Austin. I can’t.
austin????? maybe??? pic.twitter.com/aoxLAYRutf
— Sara (@stateoftay16) May 25, 2020
So @austinswift7’s twitter name used to be The Dolphin Club- pic.twitter.com/h79PaVrNm5
— smilesfortaylor (@SmilesForTaylor) May 25, 2020
The Snake Fam has also theorized that this has something to do with Scooter Braun and Taylor’s war with Big Machine about the masters for her first six albums. But… Braun and his company still own the masters, so if Jack Leopards/Austin Swift covered a song from one of those albums, Braun is still making money off of it. Just sayin’.
Photos courtesy of Taylor’s Instagram.
I actually like this version, plus its very fitting for Killing Eve.
100%
Taylor is exhausting.
Agreed. I’ve just never understood why this woman-child always feels the need to play such games. And I still think that most of her damage with Katy Perry had more to do with John Mayer than it did a backup dancer. But that’s just me.
her fans love it, and that’s all that should matter to Taylor tbh
Do they still own it? I keep seeing Swift fans raving about how she’s a mastermind because of this, but I don’t see how this would not be owned by Scooter?
Scooter only makes money on the original versions from the album, not cover song that completely different. Only the song writer gets paid. Taylor.
Scooter might own the masters but Taylor own the publishing (the actual lyrics) so without her approval Scooter gets nothing. So, in a cover song that is not from the master version, only the onwer if the lyrics gets paid if cover version is used in media.
Came here to say exactly this, its an important point of clarification.
Scooter does not own the musical composition of the song, just that specific recording of the song. He has the right to say yes to the original recording to be used in a TV show, but no right to any royalties if a cover is used in the song.
Why does everything have to be some kind of game/Easter egg hunt with her? Just release the song and move on. Being so coy and cryptic all the time seems almost narcissistic. Like, she enjoys large groups of people spending their time trying to decode these inconsequential puzzles about her life.
Also, we know no one else is releasing a cover. She’s one of the strictest celebs about this and doesn’t even allow lyric videos on YouTube. No way was someone doing a cover for a TV show if she wasn’t behind it.
I don’t like Taylor, but I’ll disagree on this. Stuff like this is really fun for a fandom! And if you don’t care, well, you can just scroll past it. You’re not the intended audience!
Are you kidding, Beyonce does this all the time with her songs, videos, Instagram pictures, etc. There have been so many conspiracy theories about Queen Bee too. It creates a stupid mystique surrounding their personas. So many celebrities do this. This is why I barely follow any celebrities on social media except for Chris Evans, he’s my one guilty pleasure lol.
And Beyonce can be exhausting too. I think I’m grumpy today, but these women are my age or older and all these little treasure hunts and the coyness feels immature to me. Just say what you wanna say and release your music. I feel like it would be absolutely exhausting to constantly be leaking little tidbits about yourself so people can speculate. I understand they have young fans and that’s probably who it’s for, but I couldn’t imagine living life like that and having to think like that constantly.
Why is Beyonce being pulled into this? Isn’t this article about Taylor Swift?
Yvette, she is just being used as an example of other major stars who provide a bit of “extra” for their fandom.
But to be fair, i doubt its exhausting for the artists to be doing all of this. They have massive teams that do it all for them and the fans go rabid over it.
If her brother is the dolphin club, then who is Jack Leopards?
I think Jack Leopards is her brother and they just added the dolphin club so her fans would know it was her brother
on twitter someone posted an old photo of her brother wearing a shirt that said dolphins on it that’s very similar to the artwork for this single. So many connections. How much mental energy does this all take I wonder!
It seems exhausting to be Taylor Swift
I don’t mind this move, I think its fun and a bit cheeky.
But then, I am also fascinated by the structure of the music industry and the business side of the art world, so the more Taylor does this stuff, the more the people learn about the legal and financial structure of the music business. I think there are lessons in them. I would much rather see a woman play with rights on her own music than take someone else’s to profit from (I am thinking Miranda Lambert and Kasey Musgraves’ Mama’s Broken Heart).
Idk, I think this is super clever and a good cover to boot.
what a petulant child. might be prez one day. can never grow up and lacks and honest bone in her body.
Why is her go-to party photo pose an open-mouthed blank stare? It makes her look like one of those blow-up dolls that show up at bachelor parties – it’s not a good look.
Love this cover! Don’t care about the Easter eggs but some of her fans live and breathe them. Harmless fun.
Next level petty.
I like it. She is messing around with other people who is messing with her life. I love petty people.