A Swiftie posted a viral TikTok showing off her new The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) CD, which comes signed by Taylor Swift herself. She’s shocked once she opens up the case.
Libby Drake (@lunarlibby) has reached over 831,000 views and 32,000 likes on her video by Thursday. She added an on-screen caption to her video explaining that she ordered the CD directly from Swift’s official store, “not resell.”
Swift’s eleventh studio album, TTPD, was released at 12am ET on Friday, April 19. USA Today states that Swift released the official merchandise for her new album “just hours before the release.” A signed copy of the TTPD CD is no longer available for purchase from Swift’s official store.
Drake begins her video by opening the package her order came in. She struggles to break the tape on the shipping package but finally opens it to find the CD. At first glance, there is no signature anywhere on the case. “I think it’s on the inside,” she says.
After more struggle, Drake eventually tears off the clear packaging and opens the case. On the right side, Drake finds the CD. On the left side, there is a printed photo of Swift. There is still no signature to be found.
“This was the part that was supposed to be signed,” Drake says while holding the photo of Swift in her hand.
Drake begins to open and look through all of the items included in the CD, hoping to find a signature. According to Swift’s website, included in the CD is “A collectible 20-page booklet that includes all song lyrics and never-before-seen photos, a 10″ x10″ Double-Sided Poster, a full size photograph of Taylor Swift, and a replica of Taylor Swift’s handwritten lyrics unique to this CD.”
Drake searches through all of these items, looking for a signature. “It was supposed to be in this picture,” Drake says again while picking up the photo of Swift.
“There it is, right there,” the person recording notices. To the far left of the photo Drake is holding, there is a small line that seems to have come from a marker. “There’s the marker,” the cameraperson adds.
@lunarlibby Pretty sure it got switched out at the warehouse since the barcode is correct for a signed CD? I reached out to @Universal Music Enterprises @Taylor Swift @Taylor Nation #TSTTPD #signedcd #taylorswift #taylornation #umg #downbad ♬ Down Bad – Taylor Swift
Many viewers in the comments section believe Drake’s copy was unsigned because Swift did not sign the CDs herself. “It’s a machine and it must have missed, lol,” one commenter says.
Another writes, “The mark on the edge counting as a signature makes it seem like all the signatures are from a machine and it got off track.”
“Mine was also unsigned,” one viewer adds, “but the more videos I see like this, the more I’m confident it was done by a machine.”
In the video’s caption, Drake says she is “Pretty sure it got switched out at the warehouse since the barcode is correct for a signed CD.”
However, another viewer thinks that while Swift was signing the photos, Drake’s copy “got stuck to another one.”
Another viewer agrees that Swift probably “didn’t notice they were stuck together which is why there’s that mark of sharpie.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Drake via TikTok direct message and to Swift’s representatives via email.
Update 9:44am CT, April 26: In an email to the Daily Dot, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group shared the following statement:
“We have identified that a small number of orders of the signed CD format of the album were inadvertently inserted with unsigned photocards during packing and have actively sent out replacement signed photocards via expedited delivery, which fans should begin receiving imminently.”
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