Iconic American photographer David LaChapelle has revealed the meaning behind Charli xcx’s polarizing cover for New York Magazine, meanwhile, some Swifties clocked the shoot as Taylor Swift shade.
Earlier this week, Charli xcx stans were left gooped and gagged over her photoshoot for New York Magazine.
Like most of LaChapelle’s work — side note: his bathtub photoshoot Tupac Shakur is my Roman Empire — Charli’s pictures were vibrant, obnoxious, beautifully chaotic and artistic.
charli xcx by david lachapelle for new york magazine pic.twitter.com/0GiVjW9sfi
— brunyyyy ★ (@sckxcx) August 26, 2024
However, some fans noticed a stylised of a severed hand in one of Charli’s shots and upon closer inspection, the missing hand was accessorised with three friendship (or kandi) bracelets.
Following the discovery, some Swifties clocked the severed hand as some kind of shade towards Taylor Swift. One person on X (formerly Twitter) labelled Charli’s shoot as “tone-deaf”.
A severed hand with friendship bracelets when last month 3 little girls were stabbed to death by a lunatic at a Swift themed dance party… Tonedeaf to say the least. https://t.co/uAj5Trbslq
— Brojack (@dontwannashar3) August 26, 2024
A hand with friendship bracelets? She’s absolutely disgusting for Portraying what her fans have been wishing on Swifties for the past few months. https://t.co/ovcchXLJwt pic.twitter.com/Nq7MQNmMPF
— Dhanush (@reputanush13) August 26, 2024
call me sensitive but the cut hand with friendship bracelet looks shady to me considering how friendship bracelets are a swifties thing and many of the violence & bullying jokes by charli's fans went viral recently https://t.co/3zSMxTLPyN
— 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎 ☀️ (@REDishFEARLESS) August 27, 2024
David LaChapelle reveals the meaning behind Charli xcx’s severed hand in the New York Magazine cover
Speaking to New York Magazine, LaChapelle said the missing limb is a representation of Charli being “trapped” by fame.
“She’s sort of trapped by fame and all the tabloid photographers are chasing her,” he began.
“An animal trapped in the woods would bite off its own limb — she bites off her hand. As she lies on the stretcher, you see people still taking photos of her, the paparazzi and the fans.
“People will watch the rise as much as they’ll watch the fall. Then she’s brought to the hospital and probably given some sort of painkiller. She’s hallucinating. She’s stuck in a dreamscape, but in the end, she frees herself.”
Honestly, if the select Swifities actually went on to read the New York Magazine article, they would’ve noticed that their mother — Taylor Swift — gushed over the brat artist in an interview.
When the cover shoot first dropped, Taylor seemingly quashed any rumours of a beef between the “vroom vroom” singer and her, telling New York Magazine that she’s been “blown away” by her work.
“Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that payoff,” the “Karma” singer told the publication.
There’s no exact date when it comes to pinpointing where the feud rumours began. However, it’s been speculated that Taylor and Charli have a sour relationship due to a variety of factors.
This includes the fact that Charli is engaged to The 1975’s George Daniel and is linked to Matty Healy AKA Taylor’s ex before Travis Kelce. There were also rumours that Taylor was purposefully trying to block Charli’s brat on the chart by releasing a UK-specific variant of her recent album, The Tortured Poets Department.
And when brat finally dropped, fans believed that Charli’s track “Sympathy is a Knife” was written about Taylor because it includes lyrics about not wanting to see an industry competitor “at her boyfriends’ show”.
This theory has since been debunked by mother Charli, who says the track is about “me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”
Neither star has publicly addressed the beef rumours. However, “Apple” singer recently told off fans for chanting “Taylor is dead” at her gigs, which adds to the idea that they’re not even linked.
Charli has also previously opened for Taylor back in 2018. How wild, right?
Let’s hope Charli drops an epic remix with Taylor, just like she did with Lorde. Fingers crossed.
Image source: New York Magazine / David LaChapelle / Getty Images
The post No, Charli xcx’s Severed Hand Photoshoot Wasn’t Taylor Swift Shade — Here’s What It Means appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
