Taylor Swift dropped the music video for “Anti-Hero,” a song from her new album, Midnights, earlier this week. One scene in particular drew criticism online, as Swift — who has had a documented history with body image and disordered eating — stood on a scale bearing the word “fat.” Many pointed out that, despite that being her perception, the usage could be harmful to other viewers. The moment has since been edited out of the video on Apple Music, although it remains unedited on YouTube.
The “Anti-Hero” scene removal isn’t Swift’s first moment of swapping out parts of a song or music video. Continue scrolling to see some of her edited moments across her discography.
On Swift’s 2006 self-titled debut album, two songs received changes. The first, “Teardrops On My Guitar,” got a radio-edited version, which changed “I laugh ’cause it’s so damn funny” to “I laugh ’cause it’s just so funny.” The other, “Picture To Burn,” switched out “I’ll tell mine you’re gay” with “You won’t mind if I say” permanently, for obvious reasons.
The re-recorded version of Swift’s sophomore record, 2021’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) found her changing three minor lyrics to songs. “You Belong With Me” was changed from “the room” to “my room” in a lyric. “Superstar” saw the change of “keep my eyes” from the original “take my eyes,” but only in the updated song’s first verse. Finally, one of the vault tracks, “Bye Bye Baby,” used to be a demo called “One Thing.” Eagle-eyed Swifties noticed the change from the demo’s “All you have is to walk away from the one thing I thought would never leave me” to “And all I have is your sympathy because you took me home but you just couldn’t keep me” in the final version.
Before “Anti-Hero,” Swift’s most recent change occurred during her Lover album era in 2019. The debut single, “Me!” found the removal of Swift’s enthusiastic “Hey kids! Spelling is fun!” line on both Apple Music and Spotify after many fans online questioned her decision to include it.
Midnights is out now via Republic. Stream it here.
