Taylor Swiftreleased her most iconic and polarizing music video 10 years ago.Swift is known for her songwriting talentsand groundbreaking Eras Tour, but her music videos are just as legendary. While the1989era was a thriving time forSwift’s music videos, even her earlier work was impressive. From “You Belong With Me” to “Blank Space,” Swift puts so much thought into the plot and visuals of her music videos that they can easily be considered short films.
It’s no surprise that Swift ultimately did make a short film for herRed (Taylor’s Version)track, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).” The Grammy Award-winning video showcased Swift’s storytelling and directing talent and really brought the song to life. However, before Swift’s popular short film, she starred in another iconic music video that had a massive impact on pop culture. Swift’s 2015 “Bad Blood” music video garnered praise and criticism, but changed the game for all the videos to come after it.
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The Star-Studded Video Premiered In May 2015
On May 17th, 2015, Taylor Swift arrived at the Billboard Music Awards with a few members of her iconic1989-era squad. That night,she premiered the music video for her single “Bad Blood,” a remix of the1989track featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar. Zendaya, Hailee Steinfeld, Lily Aldridge, and Martha Hunt were Swift’s guests for the night, and they all appeared in the music video along with Lamar.
However, Swift also included cameos from 13 other celebrities, including Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Serayah, and Hayley Williams.The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Swift, mimics an action filmwhere a group of female agents team up to build a squad to fight off their rival, Arsyn (portrayed by Gomez). In 2014, Swift toldRolling Stonethat “Bad Blood” was about a female singer whom she felt betrayed by.
‘Cause, baby now we got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you’ve done
Cause baby now we got bad blood
The media connected the dots, and it seemed obvious Katy Perry was the singer she was referring to. While never confirmed, it was speculated that Gomez’s character represented Perry, and that was who Swift and her girl squad were fighting against. With all the celebrity appearances and all the drama surrounding the song,“Bad Blood” was one of the most talked-about events of the year.
The Music Video Broke Vevo’s Viewing Record
It Remains One Of Swift’s Most-Viewed Videos
The “Bad Blood” music video ended up being a massive success, as it broke Vevo’s 24-hour viewing record. The star-studded video accumulated20.1 million views in its first day of release. The video was also compared to major blockbusters and Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and “Womanizer” music videos, which were both directed by Kahn. Today, the “Bad Blood” music video has reached 1.6 billion views.
It is Swift’s fourth most-viewed music video, falling behind “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “You Belong With Me.” The video also led to Swift bringing out her famous squad at the1989Tour. During both “Style” and “Bad Blood,” she would have members from her squad and sometimes other celebrity guests walk out on stage with her. It was one of the most talked-about moments of the tour and one of the mostmemorable parts of the1989era.
While “Bad Blood” received a lot of praise and positive publicity, it also received a lot of backlash. At the time, Swift had been openly speaking out about feminism and female empowerment. However, other feminists felt as though Swift was misled.Her style of feminism was labeled “white feminism,“as she only seemed to be educated on the issues of white women. The singer’s behavior was perceived as her parading her white model-esque friends around as if they were the face of the women’s rights movement.
To them, it was as if she were hijacking the movement and making it all about beautiful white women.
To them, it was as if she were hijacking the movement and making it all about beautiful white women. Swift was also criticized for parading her friends around as a publicity stunt and for building up a group of women just to tear another woman, Perry, down. However,in Swift’s eyes, these were the people she felt closest to, and she didn’t understand why the public was upset with her for having a good group of girlfriends.
Swift Has Completely Changed Her Approach To Music Videos Ever Since
A lot has changed in the 10 years since the iconic “Bad Blood” music video premiered. In terms of videos,Swift has continued to expand her creativityand has become known for going above and beyond with her videos. While she continued to work with Joseph Kahn throughout her1989andreputationeras, she has since stepped out on her own.
Starting in theLoverera, Swift began directing her own music videos. However, she continues to take inspiration from movies, with “Bejeweled” inspired byCinderellaand “Fortnight” featuringThe Dead Poets Societyactors Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles.
For Swift’sreputationsingle “Look What You Made Me Do,” she clapped back at the critics of her squad. In one scene, Swift leads a squad of robot women, mocking those who felt she was a cult leader controlling her friends, who seemed to follow her around everywhere. However, in 2019, Swift had a new perspective on “Bad Blood.” ForElle, Swift made a list of 30 things she learned before turning 30, one of them being a realization she had about her squad. For number 18,Swift confessed the reason why she was so public with her friend group.
Swift was excited that so many girls wanted to be her friend, something she hadn’t experienced when she was a kid. She then acknowledged howshe ended up making other people feel left out, the way she felt when she was younger. She realized the whole thing was a coping mechanism, saying,“It’s important to address our long-standing issues before we turn into the living embodiment of them.“She also admitted that she had outgrown some of the people she was friends with in her 20s, like the “Bad Blood” squad.
These days, Swift remains friends with only a few of her squad members, with Selena Gomez being a lifelong close friend of hers. In her 2020 Netflix documentary,Miss Americana,Swift confessed to having a pretty intense eating disorderduring the1989era. The singer admitted she got very defensive if anyone brought it up to her,suggesting why she never addressed all the allegations about her squad being too thin. The most shocking turn of events after “Bad Blood” was Swift finally ending her feud with Katy Perry.
After Perry responded with “Swish Swish” in 2017, she sent Swift an olive branch to herreputationtour dressing room, officially ending the bad blood.Perry later appeared in Swift’s “You Need To Calm Down” music videoin 2019 and even attended an Eras Tour show in 2024. While so much has changed inTaylor Swift’s life since her “Bad Blood” days, the music video will always be as iconic as it was when it premiered.
