Wednesday night, the much-anticipated announcement of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album rerecord at Taylor Swift’s final North America date (for now) of the Eras Tour was impossible to miss: Even some aircraft passengers were treated to the breaking news announcement, as SoFi Stadium lit up its roof with the album’s title. Sometimes the friendly skies are also incredibly informative, in addition to being genial.
While that (inevitable—honestly even the most amateur numerologist could have spotted the link between that 8/9 concert date and 1989 announcement) news was unmissable, another seismic Swiftian event might have flown under the radar, if not for eagle-eyed fans: Karlie Kloss, a former Swift bestie and #Squad member who was notably not on the “Look What You Made Me Do” T-shirt (a moment so historic that the Library of Congress should have it on file), took in the concert. And friends, she was not in the VIP bunker. Klossy was in the stadium with the normies. The normies! (Those normies include noted Meghan Markle pal and designer Misha Nonoo and fellow model Marianne Fonseca, who joined Kloss in those way-high-up seats.)
We have so many questions: Did Taylor know she was coming? Was Karlie trying to be incognito, or did she have to buy a ticket? Did she buy resale, or did she hit that “best available seat, verified fan” jackpot way back in the day? Is there…bad blood? And how was Adam Sandler, decked out in his pastel Lover best, able to score a spot in what looks to be the VIP zone at the concert? The Sandman!
To put it in terms that Swifties can understand, in this scenario, Adam Sandler is the cheer captain and Karlie Kloss is on the bleachers. It is unclear if what Taylor has been looking for has, in fact, been here the whole time.
Kloss and Swift were spotted together from 2013 to 2019 after first appearing together at Swift’s performance at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret runway show. Swift even gushed about Kloss having a designated bedroom at Swift’s Tribeca apartment. According to Page Six, that room was at the center of the two’s falling out (though both their representatives have denied this), with sources telling the outlet that Swift felt Kloss took advantage of her hospitality. Swift did not attend either of Kloss’s 2018 and 2019 wedding celebrations when she wed Josh Kushner, though she was reportedly invited and at the time Kloss’s representative said Taylor was unable to attend due to prior commitments.
Preorders for Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) have soared in the hours since the announcement of its October 27 release—exactly nine years after the first version of the album dropped, part of Swift’s mission to rerecord and rerelease her first six albums. Under her previous record deal, Swift did not own the masters to her own songs. All of the “Taylor’s version” rerecorded masters, and the masters for Lover and later albums, are owned by Swift, allowing her not only to profit financially from the songs, but increasing her control over how the new recordings are licensed and used. Previously, a group of investors fronted by exec Scooter Braun purchased the original masters, and they’ve since been sold to a private equity firm. Swift released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) earlier this summer, and after 1989, only Reputation and Taylor Swift (often referred to by fans as Debut) remain in the project.
“Since I was a teenager, I wanted to own my music,” Swift said onstage in LA while announcing the latest rerelease. “The way to do it was to rerecord my albums, and the way that you have embraced…that you have celebrated, that you really decided that it was your fight too, and that you were one hundred percent behind me…I will never stop thanking you for that.” Later in the show, she appeared to get emotional, dabbing her eyes, when her piano-backed performance of “Champagne Problems” garnered an eight-minute-long standing ovation.
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While we may not have answers to what the hell is going on with Swift and Kloss, one thing seems unquestionable: Swift really earned that well-filled wine goblet (a festive pour, as Jennifer Coolidge would say) she was spotted swigging as she exited the stage at the end of Wednesday’s show.
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