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By Sophie Lloyd
Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter
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Fans of Taylor Swift are known for their fervent snooping skills on the internet, but one latest conspiracy theory has fallen straight into Swifties' laps.
A fan was gifted a vinyl of 1989 (Taylor's Version) for Christmas and noticed an interesting detail on the album's bonus tracks.
The 34-year-old singer has been re-recording her back catalog following an ownership dispute with record executive Scooter Braun and her former label, Big Machine Records. Known as "Taylor's versions," four of the pop star's hit albums have been re-released so far, usually with bonus tracks—known as "vault songs"—and Easter eggs for fans to find.
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While perusing the 1989 vault list, TikTok user Emma (@emmahanobrien) noticed that Matt Healy, the lead vocalist of the indie pop band The 1975, was credited on the title "Slut!", with an alternate second verse added to the song.
"Just casually unwrapping my vinyl and seeing THIS," she wrote alongside a close-up of the album insert. Newsweek has reached out to Emma and Taylor Swift for comment via email.
Shortly after splitting with long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn in March, rumors began to circle that Swift and Healy were dating. Her supposed relationship with the singer-songwriter did not go down well with Swifties, due to the British rocker's past.
The 34-year-old has been accused of racist, Islamophobic and sexist behavior during his career, and has been slammed for his past remarks about Swift, in which he claimed dating the Grammy winner would be "emasculating." Newsweek has reached out to Healy for comment via Instagram.
Fans were devastated by Swift's apparent choice of boyfriend, with the pair reportedly dating for a month before splitting.
In a follow-up clip, Emma explained that the 1989 vinyl was purchased from Target. According to Reddit user LilacDream98, other Swift fans also received the version featuring Healy's credit, with the album temporarily disappearing from the Target website.
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Fans speculated that the collaboration with Healy was removed from the album due to the backlash their rumored relationship caused.
"Matty Healy is also credited on it, adding fuel to the rumor that they pulled it out of the record last minute," said @the1975_thteam on X, formerly Twitter. "If it's fake, it's a very good one."
"The verse that starts with 'lights blink' was def Matty's verse because it's not on the song & it has words Matty uses a lot like 'American' & 'relevant,'" wrote @itsaTravelOD.
"I CANT DEAL WITH THIS! I WILL DESTROY EVERY SWIFTIE THAT TOOK THIS FROM US AND BLONDIE HERSELF FOR LISTENING TO THEM!" said @girlinthescreen.
"Honestly it did feel like a 1975 song to me so this makes total sense," commented TikTok user Devyn.
"I love the 1975 and also love Taylor this is infuriating that we'll never get this now," wrote Mia, while Riot said: "I feel personally robbed."
However, a representative for Target told Newsweek that the record's removal from the app was due to a technical issue that affected a number of artists, not just Swift.
"We recently transitioned to a new provider of music titles sold through Target.com," the spokesperson said.
"Unfortunately, during that transition a number of titles from a variety of artists were not available for a short amount of time. That issue has since been resolved and all music titles are now available to shop on Target.com."
The Matty Healy Controversy Explained
In January, Healy appeared to use a Nazi salute on stage during a performance of The 1975 track "Love It If We Made It." The move corresponded with the lyric "Thank you Kanye, very cool," referencing the rapper Kanye West's antisemitic remarks.
West—who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021—made a flurry of antisemitic statements in 2022, including a tweet in which the 46-year-old claimed he was "going death con 3 on Jewish people."
A number of businesses, including Adidas and Balenciaga, cut ties with West, with the Grammy winner apologizing for his comments in Hebrew on Instagram.
Healy's reported Nazi salute was caught on camera by a concert-goer, and although the star seemed to use the gesture to mock West, it sparked fury online.
Later that month, the 34-year-old shared a snap of the Wikipedia page "Lists of Jews" to his Instagram Stories. Healy did not explain his reasoning for the post.
During an appearance on the podcast The Adam Friedland Show in May*,* Healy was slammed for laughing at the comedian's comments about Dominican-American rapper Ice Spice. Along with insulting her weight and accent, Friedland called the 23-year-old VMA winner an "Inuit Spice Girl" and "chubby Chinese lady," with the episode later removed from Spotify and Apple.
After British singer Yungblud criticized Healy for laughing at Friedland's remarks, the vocalist mocked the 25-year-old's Northern English accent on TikTok. He did later apologize to Ice Spice, telling the crowd at a gig in New Zealand: "I just feel a bit bad, and I'm kind of sorry if I've offended you. Ice Spice, I'm sorry."
Healy has been accused of Islamophobia, including a tweet in 2014 in which the indie musician appeared to equate Islam to ISIS, dismissing commentators who explained the difference between the religion and extremist group.
Healy's attitude to women has also come under fire. Earlier this year, TikTok user @softscorpio alleged the singer kissed her 15-year-old friend during the band's 2014 Lollapalooza gig.
The star was also criticized for locking lips with a fan at a Las Vegas concert in 2022. Although the smooch was consensual—with the fan holding a sign asking Healy to be her first kiss—his decision to check her ID to prove her age raised eyebrows.
Update 12/28/23, 08:43 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add additional information from Target.
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