Taylor Swift Quietly Edits “Anti-Hero” Music Video to Remove Fatphobic Scene

The change actually reinforces the message of the music video.

Taylor Swift has quietly edited the music video for her new single “Anti-Hero” to Apple Music, removing a cliché that some viewers found fatphobic. The change also inadvertently made it a stronger video.

Released on October 21, Taylor Swift’s album Midnights was enthusiastically received by fans and quickly broke two Spotify records. However, his latest pop offering has not come without criticism. In particular, the music video for Swift’s debut single “Anti-Hero”, which she wrote and directed, received negative attention for a scene in which she stands on a bathroom scale while another version of she looks at her. Rather than displaying a number, the scale simply reads “FAT” – an image that some viewers(opens in a new tab) considered(opens in a new tab) fatphobe(opens in a new tab) because it associates adiposity with undesirability.

While Swift hasn’t spoken publicly about the criticism, it appears she took notice. The “Anti-Hero” video(opens in a new tab) has now been edited on Apple Music to remove the controversial snap, instead showing Swift stepping onto the scales before her alter-ego leans over to read it and shakes her head in disapproval.

Despite this change on Apple Music, the “Anti-Hero” video was not updated on all platforms. Swift clip still includes ‘FAT’ scales on YouTube(opens in a new tab)probably due to the fact that the platform does not allow such modifications on videos already uploaded.

YouTube creators can trim clips that have already been uploaded(opens in a new tab)but inserting those extra few seconds of Taylor judging Taylor would require the “Anti-Hero” clip to be deleted and then re-uploaded in its entirety(opens in a new tab). That would completely wipe out her ever-growing 34 million views, a number Swift and Republic Records would no doubt prefer to keep. Apple Music does not publicly display such statistics.

It’s reasonable to assume that the move to “Anti-Hero” was due to the unfavorable response to Swift’s original video. Even so, the removal of the controversial photo arguably bolsters the overall product. Without the word “FAT” dazzling the audience, the more subtle implication is that no matter what the scale says – his critical second self will be unsatisfied no matter what.

Swift has previously been open about dealing with an eating disorder(opens in a new tab)most notably in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana.

Although modifying digital products after release has long been the norm in video games, it has become increasingly common in other media as well. Other high-profile examples include both Lizzo and Beyonce changing song lyrics to remove ability language.(opens in a new tab) in response to fan feedback earlier this year.

If you want to talk to someone about your eating behavior, call the National Eating Disorder Association Hotline at 800-931-2237. You can also text “NEDA” to 741-741 to be connected with a trained Crisis Text Line volunteer(opens in a new tab) or visit the association’s website(opens in a new tab) for more information.