Taylor Swift is the name on everybody’s lips these days, whether they’re obsessing over her relationship with Travis Kelce, the Eras Tour or the release date of Reputation (Taylor’s Version). While many random celebrities have revealed themselves to be huge Swifties, Robert Downey Jr. has leveled up with a reading of the 1989 hit “Blake Space,” in the style of beat poetry. The Oppenheimer star has garnered a plethora of recognition for his acting career, so it should come as no surprise that his recitation is a thing of beauty, and it’s just the video I needed to see this week.
In an interview with W Magazine about his summer blockbuster, Robert Downey Jr. picked up a different script than he’s accustomed to: the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Blake Space,” which he proceeded to read as beat poetry, complete with sound effects. Take a listen for yourself:
The TV “test pattern” noise that he makes after “Love’s a game, wanna play?” is a highlight of the reading, as well as his toss of the paper as he says, “Rumors fly.”
We all know how gifted Taylor Swift is as a songwriter, which makes her lyrics the perfect choice for poetic readings, and I’d be down to see RDJ or other actors and beat poets give their own interpretation of more of her songs after watching that. (Maybe Flavor Flav, aka “King Swiftie” will provide us with the next performance?)
As amazing as that crossover was, I’m not sure how likely a collaboration between Robert Downey Jr. and the songstress would actually be. There seemed to be a bit of bad blood there, after the actor took a shot at Taylor Swift on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2020. While talking about female spiders, the two-time Oscar nominee quipped:
She literally eats her ex. This is also seen with another species – the Taylorus Swiftus. No no, she’s actually not cruel; she just writes a song about you. She’s a sweet species.
While that’s far from the harshest criticism the Midnights artist has faced, many believe she clapped back at the actor in her music video for "The Man." In it she stands in front of an office of adoring employees with her arms outstretched — a la Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man.
While Swifties can only speculate that the moment was a reference to Robert Downey Jr., it seems like there can’t be any real beef between them, especially given how much fun the actor seemed to have with Taylor Swift’s material.
Either way, it wasn’t all that surprising to see the MCU actor getting in on the Swiftmania, just because it seems like everyone is. Even Elmo of Sesame Street fame had something to say about Tay-Tay’s fuzzy red jacket at a recent Kansas City Chiefs game. Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Chastain, meanwhile, opened up about how Taylor Swift helped her through a breakup, and the recently freed Gypsy Rose Blanchard even talked about Swift’s discography being a lifeline to her during her time in prison.
Even with Taylor Swift constantly providing things for Swifties to look forward to, it’s always fun to see fun videos like Robert Downey Jr.’s pop up for a little something different.
