Leave it to Swifties to continue theorizing about Reputation (Taylor’s Version) in the wake of a new album announcement.
Despite dropping several hints that she would announce the rerecorded version of her sixth studio album at the 2024 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift surprised fans by revealing the title and release date for her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, at the Sunday, February 4, awards show.
However, Swifties continued sleuthing and came up with several more theories as to why a Reputation TV announcement is imminent. While many assumed her black and white Grammys outfit paid homage to Reputation’s cover art — only to discover The Tortured Poets Department also has a black and white cover — some fans believe the true Reputation TV hint was in Swift’s hair.
Not only did Swift wear her hair at the Grammys in similar waves and parted on the same side as the original Reputation cover photo, but the braid wrapped around her head felt reminiscent of a snake, an animal often associated with the Reputation era.
Others think Swift used the plural form of the word album in her Best Pop Vocal Album announcement speech. Per social media footage seemingly filmed at the ceremony, Swift can be heard stating that she is releasing “brand-new albums.” The theory was seemingly debunked after an X user shared a clip of Swift’s speech from the broadcast, in which she can clearly be heard referring to one album, not two.
Some Swifties went back to the singer’s May 2023 “Karma” music video for more evidence about when Reputation TV could be announced. The end of the video features a shot of Swift’s hands holding a coffee cup with a clock latte design.
A thumb painted with blue nail polish is seen next to the number 8 on the clock, seemingly a reference to how Swift announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in August 2023. Her right-hand thumb is painted with black nail polish, an apparent nod to Reputation, and is placed next to the number 2 on the clock, further fueling theories the album could be announced sometime this month.
Leading up to the Grammys on Sunday, Swift’s website was down and featured an error message, which many fans took as a clue for a potential announcement. Included in the message was a code that read “DPT: 321.” One X user pointed out that “DPT” was likely a hint for The Tortured Poets Department as the three letters are used as the abbreviation for the word department or reference the title’s initials backwards.
The numbers, meanwhile, could be interpreted as Reputation easter eggs. Knowledgeable Swifties realized that 321 is the same as the date March 21. On that date in March 2020, the full version of Swift’s infamous 2016 phone call with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian leaked. Following the call, in which Swift and West, 46, discussed the use of her name in his song “Famous,” Swift disappeared from the public eye for a year before returning to announce her Reputation album.
Swifities’ latest theories join the long list of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) hints Swift has given fans over the past few months, from her fashion choices to unarchiving Instagram posts and more. She previously teased that the rerecorded album will be “a goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure” in her TIME Person of the Year profile.
In the December 2023 article, she went on to tease that the unreleased vault tracks on Reputation (Taylor’s Version) will be “fire.”
