Taylor Swift’s music video for new single Anti-Hero has been edited to remove a controversial scene showing her stepping on a bathroom scale with the words “fat” on it.
The clip on Apple Music, which premiered on October 21, no longer shows a close-up of the scale, with the 32-year-old singer simply seen looking at her clone with a shocked expression as she stands in the bathroom.
The decision to remove the scene comes after fans took to social media to label the singer “fatphobic” for “perpetuating that being overweight is bad.”
Goodbye: Taylor Swift’s music video for new single Anti-Hero has been edited to remove a controversial scene showing her stepping on a bathroom scale with the words ‘fat’
Others criticized the decision to remove the scene, citing Swift’s bravery in dealing with body image after she had spoken openly about her own past struggles with an eating disorder.
Swift wrote and directed the Anti-Hero music video, which depicts her nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts [playing] out in real time’.
In the five-minute video, the singer doesn’t hold back in exploring themes of “self-hatred,” portraying herself as two separate entities, one she sees as her own worst enemy and one too afraid to let loose and have so much fun .
The video sees her warding off ghosts, getting shot through the heart with an arrow, mental health issues and even attending her own funeral.
Backlash: The clip on Apple Music, which premiered on October 21, no longer shows a close-up of the scale, with the 32-year-old singer simply seen looking at her clone with a shocked expression as she stands in the bathroom
The song, which has received 33 million YouTube views, includes lyrics such as: “I stare straight at the sun but never in the mirror, it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero. Sometimes it feels like everyone’s a hot babe. And I’m a monster on the hill.
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Swift and Apple Music for comment.
Fans took to Twitter to address the scene at the video premiere, with one writing: “Fat people are awesome. Taylor Swift’s choice of images in her ‘Anti-Hero’ video … is not.”
‘Fatphobia is that image. That’s what fatphobia is. There are also a million other things that you don’t think create an unsafe world for fat people.;
Another wrote: “I can’t believe Taylor Swift confidently and unhesitatingly released an entire music video calling herself fat and adapting it to being an anti-hero lmaooooooooooooooooooooo.”
Oh Dear You: The decision to remove the scene comes after fans took to social media to label the singer ‘fatphobic’ for ‘perpetuating that being overweight is bad
A third wrote: ‘Reminder that fat is not a feeling and impact is more important than intent.
“Taylor struggles with body image is valid, but perpetuating the idea that fat is bad in her Anti-Hero music video only isolates a portion of her fan base.
Another wrote: ‘I’ve loved Taylor Swift since 2007 when I first heard Our Song. I can also admit that I felt terrible watching the part of the Anti-Hero video where she is on the scale and it says “bold”.
“Classic fat phobia. So many Swifties defending her and acting because she can do no wrong.’
One fan wrote: “I understand the ‘Anti-Hero’ video is about Taylor Swift’s personal angst, but I wish you skinny people knew how fat people feel when you say looking like them is your worst fear.
Backlash: Fans took to Twitter to address the scene at the video premiere, with one writing: “Fat people are awesome. Taylor Swift’s choice of images in her ‘Anti-Hero’ video … isn’t
After the video was edited, one fan wrote: “Love that we literally got it right by Taylor stepping in and changing the anti-hero video and fat creators still get harassed and bullied, maybe even more so.
“That lady was right when she said you’ll always care more about skinny feelings than fat experiences.”
Another spoke out in support of Taylor for giving insight into her own eating disorder, writing: “The fact that Taylor was basically bullied on the internet for editing the Anti-Hero video to remove the word ‘fat’ because people being so offended by her reflecting on how HER eating disorder affected HER mind, life and body image is disgusting.But you got what you wanted.
One follower wrote: “I can’t believe people are actually bullying Taylor into editing the ‘FAT’ scene out of the antihero mv???
“Taylor didn’t disclose her eating disorder and struggles to accept her body for you to call her fatophobic.”
The singer has previously admitted that she used to “just stop eating” if she saw a photo of herself where she felt she looked too big or if someone made a cruel comment about her size.
Brave: Another spoke out in support of Taylor for giving insight into her own eating disorder
Speaking in her 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana, she said: “It’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day.
‘It’s only happened a few times, and I’m in no way proud of it. [There have been times when I’ve seen] a picture of me where I feel like I looked like my stomach was too big, or… someone said I looked pregnant… and that’s just going to trigger me to just starve a little bit – just stop eating.’
While the star told Variety recently that she felt uncomfortable discussing the turbulent relationship she has with food, explaining, “I think I’ve never really wanted to talk about it before, and I’m pretty uncomfortable talking about it now. “
Two of a Kind: In the five-minute video, the star doesn’t hold back in exploring themes of ‘self-hatred’, portraying herself as two separate entities, one she sees as her own worst enemy and one she’s too afraid to let go loose
Funeral: A scene of Taylor’s funeral plays during the video – showing three conceited children furious that they have not been left in her will
Alluding to the many media storms she has faced since her rise to fame, Taylor is shown being shot with an arrow as she sings: “Pierced through the heart but never killed”.
Taylor recently became the most streamed artist in a single day on Spotify.
The superstar’s blockbuster release Midnights on October 21 breached the milestone shortly after its release, according to the platform.
The album has sold over a million copies in the first three days alone to become the best-selling album of 2022.
Swift’s 10th studio album debuted at midnight last week, before the Grammy winner surprised her massive fan base by releasing seven more songs three hours later.
Over the moon about Midnights: The superstar’s blockbuster release of Midnights on October 21 became the most streamed album in a single day, helping Taylor break the record for most streamed artist in a single day
According to Billboard, Swift has broken her own record with Midnights, as she previously recorded the biggest sales week for any album with her 2017 release Reputation.
That music collection sold over 1.2 million albums in its first week, and the Shake It Off singer has done it again with Midnights.
The megastar has been blown away by the overwhelming response, tweeting: ‘How did I get so lucky that you guys out here did something so awesome?! Like what even happened??!?!’
As she smashes records and garners critical acclaim, Taylor has dropped hints that she will embark on a world tour in 2023 to promote Midnights.
Swift has previously headlined five concert tours, with her last being the 2018 Reputation World Tour which grossed nearly $350 million, breaking the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.
The Grammy winner was preparing her sixth tour, called Lover Fest, for 2020, but it was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Taylor hasn’t announced any specific details on the topic of a tour, but she has confirmed her anticipation and fueled rumors in the music industry.
“I really miss it,” she told Jimmy Fallon, 48, during an appearance Tuesday on The Tonight Show. “I miss, you know, when you write songs and you’re proud of the songs, and you have the fans reacting… the most potent way you can see them react is when you look into their faces.”
“I think I should,” the hitmaker said, sending Fallon’s audience into hysterics. When The Tonight Show host pressed Swift on a specific time frame for the tour, she remained coy. “When the time is right,” she said, “we will.”
Midnights is a collection of songs born out of the singer-songwriter’s insomnia, as she claims the lyrics kept her up late at night.
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night,” read her official announcement for the album.
“A journey through terror and sweet dreams,” her announcement continued. ‘The floors we walk and demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep lanterns lit and search – hoping that maybe, when the clock strikes twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.
Diamond-studded release: The album has sold over a million copies in just the first three days to become the best-selling album of 2022; seen in the Bejeweled video
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