Taking out the trash? Taylor Swift fans are convinced she dropped a shady Easter egg about her feud with Scooter Braun in Ryan Reynolds‘ new ad for Match.
“A match made in hell is still a @match,” the Deadpool actor, 44, teased via Twitter on Tuesday, December 2, alongside a hilarious clip that details the love story between Satan and the year 2020. Swift, 30, provided the soundtrack to the commercial with a re-recorded version of her 2008 hit “Love Story.”
A match made in hell is still a @match. Latest work from @MaximumEffort #2020LoveStory pic.twitter.com/kGL02PIqin
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) December 2, 2020
Eagle-eyed Swifties picked up on a potential diss toward Braun, 39, amid the duo’s dramatic back-and-forth regarding possession of the country singer’s masters from her old label, Big Machine Records. Near the end of the clip, Satan and his lover pose for a selfie in front of a flaming dumpster, blissfully unaware of the destruction behind them. In the background, a discarded scooter lays next to another blue garbage can, possibly hinting at the “Cardigan” singer’s ongoing feud with the music manager.
Swift first lashed out at Braun and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta in a lengthy social media message in June 2019. The “Bad Blood” songstress was signed to the record label for the majority of her career before partnering with Universal Music Group in 2018. Braun acquired Swift’s back catalog of music as part of a $300 million dollar deal after taking the reins at Big Machine.
![Taylor Swift May Have Dropped a Scooter Braun Easter Egg in Ryan Reynolds Commercial](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Taylor-Swift-May-Have-Dropped-Scooter-Braun-Easter-Egg-in-Ryan-Reynolds-Commercial.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
In her emotional 2019 statement, Swift claimed that she “learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world” and accused the talent manager of “incessant, manipulative bullying” through the years. She also called out his clients Justin Bieber and Kanye West. Her former label retaliated in a statement of their own in November 2019, calling the Cats star “calculated” in her public appeals.
One year later, the conflict has continued to make headlines. On November 16, Swift gave fans an update on her attempt “to enter into negotiations with Scooter Braun” about her master recordings.
“Scooter’s team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature),” the Grammy winner alleged in a statement via Twitter. “So, I would have to sign a document that would silence me before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work.”
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The strict NDA made it almost impossible for the Miss Americana star to buy her masters back from Braun and Big Machine Records. A private equity company, Shamrock Holdings, later purchased the rights to her masters, marking the “second time [her] music has been sold without [her] knowledge.”
Despite facing multiple setbacks, Swift revealed that she recently started the process of re-recording her old songs.
“It has already proven to be both exciting and creatively fulfilling,” she wrote in November. “I have plenty of surprises in store. I want to thank you guys for supporting me through this ongoing saga, and I can’t wait for you to hear what I’ve been dreaming up. I love you guys and I’m just gonna keep cruising, as they say.”