TAYLOR SWIFT IS PREGNANT:
HiddleSwift, The Media, and Conspiracy in 2016
By MK (@notcyndilauper) / 6.28.16
In this document, I will prove that Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston are actively and purposely pursuing a high-profile media relationship (fully aware of, and in conjunction with, the paparazzi and entertainment media outlet attention). Further, I will substantiate my claim that the reason behind this high-profile relationship is because Taylor Swift is pregnant with Tom Hiddleston’s baby.
To disclaim: I am not saying that Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston’s romantic relationship (hereafter, “HiddleSwift”) is fake. Perhaps their whirlwind romance and courtship is real; I do not know either way. I am only proving that the widely photographed nature of this relationship is carefully orchestrated by HiddleSwift’s PR teams, and proposing a reason behind that orchestration (the pregnancy).
- TAYLOR’S IMAGE THEN & NOW
To begin, let’s take a look at Swift’s history with the media. Swift has built her career on a largely “innocent”, girl-next-door persona. She has a very wide and diverse fan base, but her core audience has been and continues to be young girls (ages middle school thru high school). Swift’s PR team has crafted a “relatable” image: she’s a cat lover, a baker, a BFF. (Remember this, as this image is very important to the current narrative).
Swift is very vocal both in songs and interviews about her “boy problems” and getting her heart broken. However, in 2013, after a series of high-profile celebrity relationships, Swift began to develop a reputation as a serial dater and as playing the “victim card.” For reference, here are some Huffington Post headlines from 2013:
As evidenced in the final headline, many jokes were made at Swift’s expense, such as Tina Fey’s infamous jab at the 2013 Golden Globes. After Swift’s breakup with One Direction’s Harry Styles, she expressed her dismay with the media narrative around her relationships: “[T]he fact that there are slide shows of a dozen guys that I either hugged on a red carpet or met for lunch or wrote a song with. . . it’s just kind of ridiculous...It’s why I have to avoid the tabloid part of our culture, because they turn you into a fictional character” (Vanity Fair 2013).
Post Swift-Styles breakup, Swift made many moves to rehabilitate her image from that of “serial dater”. She made many public statements about her new appreciation of feminism, and began cultivating the now well-known “squad” of female friends. She abstained from dating publicly from 2013-2015. She also attempted to cast a different light on her dating history: in her own words, “You know, I went out on a normal amount of dates in my early 20s, and I got absolutely slaughtered for it. And it took a lot of hard work and altering my decision-making. I didn’t date for two and a half years. Should I have had to do that? No” (Vogue 2016).
Even her high-profile relationship with Calvin Harris was a conscious break from the “serial-dating” reputation: the relationship was, obviously, long term; the pictures she shared of their relationship included family visits, private vacations, and anniversary benchmarks; later in the relationship, she thanked him in speeches for supporting her. I will argue that all of these were carefully calculated so that the relationship would not appear as a “flash in the pan,” but rather a mature, committed relationship - as opposed to those in her past.
Further, Swift and Calvin were clearly discreet. Paparazzi photos did not often emerge of the couple unless they went to a public event or had dinner at a restaurant. Swift’s instagram photos depicted their vacations, but the paparazzi never seemed to invade their private time. Take, for instance, this photo of a Fourth of July celebration at Swift’s Rhode Island residence:
The only photos shared from this event were Swift’s own (Remember this when Swift brings Hiddleston to her Rhode Island residence).
Finally, consider Swift’s post-Styles ‘1989’ track “I Know Places,” a song that laments trying to have a relationship while under paparazzi scrutiny: “Something happens when everybody finds out/See the vultures circling dark clouds/Love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out” (Swift 2014). Pair this with Swift’s comment about the “tabloid culture” and her admission that changing her image “took a lot of hard work and altering my decision-making.”
We have established that Swift actively sought to change her public image, that she valued discretion in her romantic relationships, and that she disdained public scrutiny when fostering a new romantic relationship.
2. THE END OF TAYVIN & BEGINNING OF HIDDLESWIFT: A TIMELINE
Here we will establish a timeline of the end of the Swift-Harris relationship and the beginning of HiddleSwift.
May 2 2016: Swift and Hiddleston meet for the first time at the Met Gala, cause media stir after their “dance off.” Harris does not attend.
May 11 2016: Swift receives inaugural “Taylor Swift Award” at the BMI Pop Awards. Harris does not attend.
May 20 2016: Harris has a car crash, with Swift reportedly supporting him through his injuries.
June 1 2016: Harris and Swift announce their breakup.
June 15 2016: First photos of HiddleSwift emerge.
June 21 2016: HiddleSwift spotted at Selena Gomez’s concert in Nashville.
June 23 2016: Paparazzi photos of HiddleSwift dining in North Carolina.
June 26 2016: Paparazzi photos of HiddleSwift walking on the beach.
June 27 & 28 2016: Paparazzi photos of a HiddleSwift vacation in Rome.
3. THE END OF TAYVIN (A FURTHER LOOK)
Certain elements of the Harris-Swift (“Tayvin”) breakup are worth noting. First, rumors circulated that Harris was “insecure” about Swift’s success and fame. Harris’s camp denied this, yet he did not join her at certain significant events in the last month of their relationship, including the (now-infamous) Met Gala and the BMI awards where Swift received the inaugural “Taylor Swift Award” and the Top Songwriter Prize.
Second, sources differ on who ended the relationship: some said Swift was “blindsided” by the break up, and others said Swift herself was the one who did the breaking up via phone call.
Finally, according to Perez Hilton, a source said Harris had “reason to believe” something was occurring between Swift and Hiddleston before the break up - in early May, around the time of the Met Gala.
Notably, post-breakup, Harris appeared to respond to fans’ comments on Instagram regarding Swift. In one comment, he wrote, “she controlled the media and this situation, I had no idea what was going on.” The comments have since been deleted, and were perhaps a hack, though they did come from Harris’s official account.
4. HIDDLESWIFT: HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S STAGED?
I want to disclaim again that I am not questioning the veracity of HiddleSwift as a relationship, only that most of the photos that have emerged of the couple are almost certainly staged or planned.
The first photos emerged of HiddleSwift on June 15. The couple walked and shared PDA on the private beach behind Swift’s Rhode Island residence.
How might we surmise these paparazzi photos are staged? This is, again, a private beach behind Swift’s property. The other residents that share the beach include the Kennedy family. Presumably, personalities like Swift and the Kennedys can afford security to keep the private beach private. Therefore, we might assume that the paparazzi was invited by a resident to gain access to the property. Considering that HiddleSwift seem to notice and are unbothered by the presence of the camera, we might further assume they were the ones who invited the paparazzi.
Further, this is the same Rhode Island property that Swift has hosted many other celebrity guests, without any invasion from the paparazzi. Remember the Fourth of July Instagrams with Harris, or many other parties thrown with her famous “girl squad.” The only pictures from these events are ones Swift or her guests shared themselves. This seems to indicate that Swift does have the means to keep her Rhode Island guests private.
Paparazzo Justin Steffman offered insight into celebrities staging, saying that Swift views paparazzi publicity “like a business.” He says, “Certain celebrities, like Taylor, not only accept that paparazzi are a part of the business, but they actually go out of their way to use us as a tool for publicity.” About the Rhode Island pictures, he says:
“My first instinct when seeing the pictures of Taylor and Tom is that they are
definitely staged. But I'm friends with the paparazzo who is credited with those images and he is one of the best in the business when it comes to capturing sneaky pictures. Taylor loves to have control, and I'm sure she absolutely hates that someone was able to catch her sharing an intimate moment with her new love interest. But like I said ... if it's a huge news story, you always have to wonder, don't you?” (Cosmopolitan 2016)
The Rome vacation photos are another example of a likely “staged” date.
The pair had a very public date at the Coliseum, taking selfies and kissing in full sight of the paparazzi. Presumably, at some place so open to the public as the Coliseum, HiddleSwift had to anticipate that there would be many cameras there, and that they would be seen and photographed doing anything there.
5. WHAT IS SO UNUSUAL ABOUT THE HIDDLESWIFT STAGING?
Remember the lyrics to “I Know Places”: “Something happens when everyone finds out.” We know Taylor views the paparazzi attention on her relationships negatively, yet HiddleSwift was photographed in what had to be the first or second week of their relationship. Remember that Swift values discretion and dislikes the “tabloid culture,” yet she obviously knows that taking trips to somewhere as public as the Coliseum would become tabloid fodder.
Most interestingly, we know that Swift put “hard work” and “[altered] [her] decision making” to change her serial-dating image. Yet she commits to public outings with her new beau less than two weeks after breaking up with her long term boyfriend of over a year. She knows this will rekindle the (admittedly sexist) criticisms of old that she “can’t keep a man” and “bounces from one boy to the next.” So why would she choose to debut this relationship so publicly, when we know her to be capable of discretion?
Hiddleston certainly stands to gain from this uptick in his publicity: he is rumored to become the next James Bond, and the publicity for HiddleSwift raises his portfolio and helps him to become a household name. However, Swift is currently on break from her tour and making music. She has no upcoming projects to promote. She stands to gain nothing from stirring up publicity with her relationship. Unless…
6. TAYLOR SWIFT IS PREGNANT
Here is where we enter the realm of pure speculation/theorizing.
Imagine that in early May Tayvin are on rocky ground. He doesn’t join her or support her at events. When she goes to the Met Gala alone on May 2, she meets and flirts with Tom Hiddleston. The pair has a very public “dance off.” They sleep together.
Sometime between May 2 and June 15, Swift finds out she is pregnant.
We have established that Swift’s enforced image is the “girl next door.” Her fan base includes many young women who consider her a role model; parents of young women laud Swift as an example for their daughters. Swift has distanced herself from the “serial dater” persona - the implication being that of a “loose” woman. A pregnancy that stems from a one night stand would completely ruin Swift’s cultivated image.
There is no version of a Taylor Swift pregnancy wherein she escapes judgement; in any scenario, the story will be a complete scandal. However, if Swift controls the story by reaffirming her commitment to the father of her child (Hiddleston) and changing the narrative from “one night stand” to “whirlwind romance,” she stands a much better chance of appealing to her fan base. Above all, Swift gets to control the narrative herself, which we know is important to her.
Thus, the very public (staged) dates and excessive PDA beginning on June 15 and continuing progressively throughout the month. This also explains the expediency with which the couple introduced each other to their parents; not only does it reaffirm the love story, it also makes sense if they have a baby on the way.
7. TO CONCLUDE
Obviously, this is a conspiracy theory. I do believe there could be truth to what I’m saying. The the apparent “rushed” nature of the relationship and the photo staging suits this narrative.
However on the off chance I just want to say: Taylor, please don’t get litigious with me. I will destroy this entire document if you want me to. Please, I cannot afford a lawsuit. I wrote this for fun. I hope my friends like it though.
Thank you and goodnight.