Taylor Swift Album Detail Sparks New Theory

Newsweek

15 hours ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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A new theory about Taylor Swift's upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, has gone viral online.
Blogger Jordan Fairchild's take on Swift's song Cancelled has been viewed more than 1.8 million times on social media.
Newsweek reached out to Fairchild via Instagram for comment on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
Last week, Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, in a teaser video for boyfriend Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast. The 35-year-old quite literally broke the internet on Wednesday when her interview dropped on the show, which is co-hosted with Kelce's brother, Jason Kelce.
During the episode, Swifties—the affectionate term given to Swift's fandom—experienced technical difficulties on YouTube when it glitched, though the streaming platform quickly resolved the issue.
The Life of a Showgirl comes months after rumors were swirling that a new album may be on the way soon.
Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour in Lisbon on May 24, 2024.
Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour in Lisbon on May 24, 2024.
ANDRE DIAS NOBRE/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
On Saturday, Fairchild took to Instagram to share her thoughts on what initially appeared to be a spelling error on the album.
Cancelled, which is listed as the 10th song on The Life of a Showgirl, is spelled with two 'l's rather than one, which is the British version of the word.
According to Merriam-Webster, "The forms of cancel in American English are typically canceled and canceling; in British English they are cancelled and cancelling. Cancellation is the usual spelling everywhere, though cancelation is also sometimes used."
Fairchild said: "Taylor Swift is a literary genius that has spelled canceled wrong. Not really. She actually spelled canceled with two 'l's because this is the British way of spelling it. In America, we spell it c-a-n-c-e-l-e-d, and this again, is spelled with two 'l's, which is the British version, so both of them are correct. We in the U.S. just use one way, and people in the U.K. use another way."
"So what does that mean?" she continued. "That means that whoever this is about is a British person. So there are two people in mind that I can think of that this could be about."
Fairchild was likely referring to Swift's English exes, actor Joe Alwyn and The 1975 lead singer Matty Healy. The billionaire pop star dated Alwyn from 2016 until 2023, and she was briefly with Healy in 2023.
On X, Swiftie @polaroidofus_tv also noticed the Cancelled spelling.
"I haven't seen anyone talk about the spelling of CANCELLED!" they wrote in a note with one million views and 10,000 likes.
Another X user, @marias_playlist, said: "Taylor Swift has me second guessing how I should be spelling "cancelled/canceled."
There's also a discussion on Reddit about the topic, with many Americans stating they've been spelling "canceled" with two "ls" anyway.
"as an american, i've always spelled it with two 'L' soooo i didn't read much into it," /u/irunfortshirts shared in a message with 351 upvotes.
What People Are Saying
During Swift's New Heights episode, the 35-year-old explained her secret hints—something she's become known for over the years: "The art of the Easter egg is that there's dos and don'ts, right? Like, I'm never going to plant an Easter egg that ties back to my personal life. It's always going to be toward music … something I'm coming up with, something I have coming up, a plan I have coming together. Something that you don't know I'm saying for a specific reason that you'll hear later and you'll go back and be like, 'Oh my God.'"
What Happens Next
The Life of a Showgirl will be released on October 3.