They’re the problem. Taylor Swift attends her own funeral in her “Anti-Hero” music video — alongside a few other famous faces.
The Grammy winner at 32 has released her 10th studio album. MidnightOn Friday, October 21st, she simultaneously released a visual she had written and directed. “Watch my nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts play out in real time,” she tweeted of the “Anti-Hero” video on Friday, sharing photos from set.
Swift is seen sitting alone at a kitchen counter as midnight strikes. She then becomes haunted by “all of the people that I’ve ghosted” — dressed in white sheets and sunglasses — before meeting a different version of herself at her front door.
“It’s me / Hi, I’m the problem, it’s me / At teatime, Everybody agrees,” she sings in the chorus. “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror / It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”
As the video continues, fans are introduced to Swift’s future children who start to bicker at her funeral. Mary Elizabeth EllisDuring the service, snaps a selfie John EarlyShe looks bored beside her. Mike Birbiglia then gets up to read Swift’s will, teasing, “She’s laughing up at us from hell.”
The pop star left the materialistic children nothing, they learn. “It’s … the worst,” Birbiglia warns his siblings. “She’s having [the beach house] turned into a f–king cat sanctuary.”
An outraged Ellis — wearing a dress worn by the “Cardigan” artist during her Fearless tour — shouts, “What?! Cats don’t even like the beach.”
Early presses for more details, reminding the others he “flew all the way here from Ibiza.” Ellis grabs the document and reads, “To my children I leave … 13 cents. P.S. there’s no secret encoded message that means something else. Love, Taylor.”
Swift watches the chaos unfold and pops her head out from the casket.
Before release Midnight — and a special extended version with seven bonus tracks — the Cats actress referred to “Anti-Hero” as one of her “favorite songs” she’s ever written. “I really don’t think I’ve dealt this far into my insecurities in this detail before,” she said in her “Midnights Mayhem With Me” TikTok series. “I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized. I know that it’s not too dark to say, but I struggle with the idea not feeling like a person. … I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.”
Scroll down to get to know the stars of Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video:
