Taylor Swift Confirms 'Tortured Poets' Easter Egg

Taylor Swift's highly anticipated 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, came out on Friday, with the singer seemingly confirming an Easter egg for her excited Swifties fanbase.

Swift posted a video montage to Instagram account on Thursday to promote the album's first single, "Fortnight." The brief clip included black-and-white footage from the accompanying music video, which goes live at 8 p.m. ET. Newsweek has reached out to Taylor Swift for comment via email.

One snippet shows the 34-year-old wearing a Victorian-style gown, complete with lace and ruffles, bashing away at a typewriter. A second sees Swift receiving electroshock therapy in a 19th-century asylum, while a third clip shows her running into the arms of a bearded man.

Taylor Swift at the Grammys, February 2024
Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Fans recognized the singer's look in the "Fortnight" video promo. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Entertainment

Another shows Swift wearing a white gown while furiously hurling a chair across the room, before the montage ends with a close-up of the pop star's face. Swift is wearing a white satin choker in the final shot, with the necklace featuring a jewel-encrusted clockface in the center.

Fans instantly recognized the white dress, which appears to be the Schiaparelli design she wore to the Grammys in February. The "Antihero" singer walked the red carpet in the floor-skimming corseted gown, with a thigh-high slit showing off her black-peep toed heels.

Swift also wore a similar choker to the ceremony, but with a black strap instead of white. The pop legend announced The Tortured Poets Department during the show, while collecting the award for Best Album.

Swift seemed to confirm suspicions that her Grammys look was included in the "Fortnight" video.

X user Cris (@Crismaths) shared a photo of Swift at the awards show alongside a screengrab from the "Fortnight" Instagram promo.

"THE DRESS #TSTTPD," she wrote, with her post receiving over 383,000 views.

Swift also took notice and "liked" the image collage, seemingly validating Cris's observation.

The Grammys' gown isn't the only Easter egg Swift has left for fans to find in The Tortured Poets Department. The VMA winner surprised Swifties early Friday morning by announcing that it will be a double album, with 31 tracks in total.

Swifties noticed that 31 is 13 backward, which the music icon considers her lucky number.

Even before The Tortured Poets Department was released, fans were on the hunt for Easter Eggs, particularly relating to Swift's ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

The "Shake It Off" singer dated the British actor for six years before they broke up in April 2023. At a Spotify pop-up in The Grove in Los Angeles, fans were treated to "library installations" inspired by The Tortured Poets Department, giving Swifties a peak at the album's themes and lyrics.

Fans spotted many possible references to the Mary Queen of Scots actor, dubbing Swift an "unparallelled mastermind."

Swifties also believe they have found nods to the musician's new love, football star Travis Kelce, whom she began dating in July.

The track "Alchemy" features references to touchdowns, trophies and winning streaks, while "So High School" appears to hit out at the media circus that has surrounded their relationship since the couple went public in September.

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