A TikToker’s unproven theory that Taylor Swift is doing a play on Broadway is being likened to complex conspiracy theories such as QAnon.
In a three-minute video posted last week, the user @jessicalynnslocum said her “proof” was based on new Taylor Swift billboards posted in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles.
“As I’m looking at these pictures, I’m thinking okay, this is really weird. These are weird places to have billboards,” Slocum says, adding that she zoomed in to see the cross streets of the billboards.
“I’m shaking,” she said.
@jessicalynnslocum I’M SHAKING. SCREAMING. THROWING UP. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 #broadway #taylorswift #fyp #heylovers #folklore #lgad #lastgreatamericandynasty #swifties4ever #taylorswiftie #swifttok #swifttoker #swiftok #swiftie #erastour #play #egot @swiftiesweetheart @Nikki @Sydni @MONICA ABRAHAM 🖤😸🫶🏻 ♬ the last great american dynasty – Taylor Swift
She noted that three of the billboards are on streets called Broadway. The second billboard in New York is 13 minutes away from Broadway, she said, sharing a screenshot of Google Maps’ driving directions, which may change based on traffic. She added in the comments that the distance is 13 blocks as well. (Context: Swift considers 13 to be her lucky number.)
Her other three pieces of evidence are that Swift told a crowd in Seattle that “they’re giving a Tony award-winning performance with their [Eras Tour] outfits;” and tweeted “EGOT BABYYYYYYY” in February, referencing the achievement of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony; and that in posts thanking fans, Swift used the verb “play” instead of “performing.”
“So what do I think the play is going to be about? The Last Great American Dynasty,” she concluded, referencing the artist’s 2020 song inspired by the life of socialite Rebekah Harkness.
In the comments, many expressed hope that such a play would come to fruition but others were dubious about the evidence presented.
“Now this is my level of delulu,” reads the top comment on the video.
“Remember when everyone also thought she was dropping a book and that didn’t happen,” wrote another TikTok user.
Taylor Swift fans in May propelled an unpublished, untitled book to the top of bestseller lists with pre-orders. That book ended up being a memoir by the K-pop band BTS.
The video poster replied: “It could still happen. I think all of this will be spread far apart.”
The conspiratorial video made its way to Twitter, where it was broadly mocked.
“i wanna thank taylor swift because these conspiracies are the only thing holding 2 million white women back from QAnon,” posted one Twitter user.
“The NYC billboards are in the 2 hugest billboard spots in Manhattan!!!! I’m sure the Nashville one also has similar logic,” commented another.
“they be connecting dots that don’t even exist,” wrote another.
“While watching this i slowly realized that being a Swifty is like lib qanon,” commented someone else.
QAnon is the right-wing theory that former President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a ring of pedophile elites, and believers frequently interpret basic actions to have complex, deeper meaning.
Taylor Swift is not that … yet.
