Taylor Swift's New Commercial *Might* Throw Shade At Scooter Braun

Taylor Swift just gave the world a preview of her "Love Story" re-recording in an ad for the Match dating app, but she may have snuck in another surprise for eagle-eyed Swifties. Fans think the pop star threw shade at Scooter Braun in the new commercial, which premiered on Wednesday, Dec. 2. And given their tense history, would anyone be surprised if Swift dropped a subtle dig in there?

As longtime fans of the singer know, she inserts easter eggs into virtually every video and project she releases. So when the ad debuted, fans immediately investigated and noticed one blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that might be the ultimate diss. While the characters Satan and 2020 are taking selfies in front of a (literal) dumpster fire, an actual scooter can be spotted lying next to another dumpster in the background. According to BuzzFeed, when you zoom in, the number "6" seems to be spray-painted on the wall next to it. This is likely a reference to the number of albums the musician plans to re-record after Braun bought the masters of her first six albums — and then sold them off again without her consent.

As Swift confirmed herself via Twitter, her famous friend Ryan Reynolds wrote the commercial and asked to use the re-recording of "Love Story," so it's not known if she had a hand in the ad and inserted this moment intentionally. But that's not stopping fans from praising what might be her best Easter egg yet.

In June 2019, Braun bought Swift's former record company Big Machine and received the masters of her first six albums with the purchase. In an open letter posted to Tumblr, Swift claimed that she tried to buy her masters over the years but wasn't given the opportunity, causing her to depart the label and switch to Republic Records in late 2018. The singer accused Braun of "bullying" her throughout her career and called the sale her "worst case scenario."

Since then, Swift and Braun have gone back and forth publicly, which came to a head in November 2020 when the music mogul sold Swift's masters to a privately owned company, Shamrock Holdings. In her response, Swift claimed that she attempted to enter negotiations with Braun's team to buy her masters back, but the talks fell apart when he asked for her to sign an NDA that would prevent her from speaking about him negatively. Per her Big Machine contract, Swift was allowed to re-record her first five albums starting in November. And if this new commercial is any indication, the re-recording process is already well underway.