Taylor Swift Stuns, Scares, in Cameo-Heavy ‘Bad Blood’
Few music videos in the history of the genre have sparked as much consistent chatter as Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.” In a truly genius stroke of social media cat-and-mouse, the singer chose to reveal a staggeringly diverse cast of guest appearances planned for the video day-by-day starting earlier this month – teasing each new cameo with a neo-noir, action-themed poster on Twitter.
By May 15, we all knew everyone from Mariska Hargitay to Kendrick Lamar to Lena Dunham to Cindy Crawford would appear in the production – in addition to lead attraction Selena Gomez – when the video debuted at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards two days later.
Did the actual video – which opened the awards show, but is not yet available in entirety online as of posting time – live up to the hype? The short answer: Yes. Jaw-droppingly yes. And for one reason only – despite the cast of dozens, Swift managed to carry the entire video on her own merit alone. Based on 2005’s thriller Sin City, the clip featured Swift as we have (really) never seen her…ballsy, confident, much scarier than expected. And sexier.
And sexier. We all were aware that Swift is beautiful, and that she’s no longer a teenager singing about tears on her guitar.
However, viewing her flying about the set in everything from a transparent bodice to a furry white hood – plus going for a few rounds in a boxing ring in a mildly BDSM-tinged scene – is enough to fully convince us that Swift has grown up and is finally her own woman.
Swift kept the video’s momentum rolling by appearing live on stage in a revealing cut-out white jumpsuit which, again, likely made more than a few eyebrows fly (recall, just last month, she appeared in Dallas at the Academy of Country Music Awards in a trendy but demure blue gown).
Rumors are swirling that the singer is planning an equally socially brilliant roll-out of different versions in days to follow.
The assassin theme may or may not be one of Swift’s more sly jokes, as the song itself sparked much gossip regarding an alleged feud with fellow megastar Katy Perry. Swift has never outright confirmed the Perry connection, but did tell Rolling Stone last year, “She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies’…It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict.”
Swift may hate conflict, but she’s never been one to shy away from biting back via music—or, for a first this time, in a music video.
