The lore behind Taylor Swift’s star-studded ‘Bad Blood’ music video
As Bad Blood turns 10, the Swift Squad is back in the chat—and Swifties are connecting dots like it’s 2015 again.
It’s been a decade since Taylor Swift dropped Bad Blood—a star-studded revenge fantasy that became both a cultural reset and the ultimate unnamed diss track (yes, Kendrick Lamar feature and all). As the music video marks its 10-year anniversary, it’s back in the spotlight—and for good reason.
Is there tension between the Swift Squad?
The video featured everyone from Gigi Hadid and Selena Gomez to Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, Zendaya, and Hailee Steinfeld—who collectively came to define the most iconic friend group of the era: the Swift Squad. And now, with Taylor’s current boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, recently playing against the Buffalo Bills (whose quarterback happens to be Hailee Steinfeld’s fiancé, Josh Allen), fans were quick to raise an eyebrow.
Is there a secret scrimmage going on behind the scenes? Is this just a coincidence, or the kind of cinematic tension the Swiftie universe thrives on? It's probably nothing… but also, everything is lore when it comes to Taylor Swift.
The original lore behind Bad Blood
While Bad Blood was never officially confirmed to be about a specific celeb, fans quickly connected the dots to Katy Perry, sparking one of pop culture’s most iconic (and polite) musical feuds. What allegedly started over backup dancers turned into years of subtle shade and icy silence—until the two reconciled in 2019. Perry even appeared in Swift’s You Need to Calm Down video dressed as a hamburger, hugging Taylor (as fries, obviously). A full-circle moment if there ever was one.
At its core, though, Bad Blood was an unapologetic celebration of female power. As Taylor mentioned in an interview back then, “I'm just happy that in 2015, we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers.”
Sure, the squad later got backlash for being too curated or “mean girl”-coded—something Taylor herself acknowledged in her documentary Miss Americana. However, many stars who appeared in the video have nothing but love for the moment. Gigi Hadid and Cindy Crawford, for instance, described the shoot as empowering and joyful when asked about it in interviews.
Where are we now?
Since Bad Blood, Taylor’s lore has only grown: four re-recorded albums, a reconciled Katy friendship, a football boyfriend the internet adores, and The Eras Tour—aka the most successful tour of all time. And with fan theories swirling about a surprise AMA appearance on May 26… who knows what she has up her sleeve next?
Then again, for Swifties, that’s just another Tuesday.
Lead image: Getty
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