The Empire State Building (or rather, its social media team) loves to be part of the pop culture conversation, and it also loves to play into the clowning Taylor Swift’s fans are best known for. It’s happened periodically over the years, and now, it’s happening again, as it clowned and trolled the Swifties while they freaked out over Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version), AKA Debut (TV).
Alright, so, here’s what happened. On the morning of August 20, the Empire State Building posted an image on X and a video on Instagram of the skyscraper lit up all green. The caption cheekily capitalized the TS in “whaTS happening???” And it sent Swift's fans into a tailspin. Before we get into their reactions, though, take a look at this video:
A post shared by Empire State Building Observation Deck (@empirestatebldg)
A photo posted by on
Along with the video, Swifties were also freaking out online about a random green TS that seemingly appeared on the side of a building (that was not the Empire State Building). So, there were multiple reasons they were excited, and this clip from the skyscraper really got folks talking.
Now, when Taylor Swift announced that she owned all her music, the hope for the re-releases of Reputation and Taylor Swift dwindled, but by no means disappeared. That’s because, in her statement, the pop star wrote that “there will be a time” when she might release Rep’s vault tracks and her complete re-recorded first album. This post from the Empire State Building has some Swifties thinking it might be Debut's time, as they commented:
- Those are debut colors 🤡 -@LadyinBlack1776
- Is it Debut? Is it Reputation? Is it TS13? I am going crazy -@sodwonbad13
- If it’s anything at all I’d expect it to be Debut. But Taylor likes to keep us on our toes and always zigs when we think she’s about to zag so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was TS13. Again, if it’s anything at all. -@christopradam
- WAIT DEBUT TV??? -@daylightsw30244
Over on Instagram, the comments about this continued:
- OMG TS DEBUT TV -hanythedog2013
- DEBUT TV DEBUT TV DEBUT TV -mattilynebryant
- Beep beep, all clowns to report to the clown car, next stop clownelia street or Tays website to buy TS (TV)... Only Tay can tell us! -jadeswiftie
Notably, Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. So, it will hit its 20-year anniversary this year. If she’s going to re-release her first album, now feels like a very good time to do it.
Meanwhile, some Swifties (especially the ones who are still clowning for the re-release of Rep) leaned into the idea that both Debut and Reputation could be dropped at the same time. Here are some of the highlights:
- DEBUT + REPUTATION = DEBUTATION??? -janhvi_jx
- Taylor Swift (20th anniversary version) & Rep (deluxe) coming soon -rueruvim
- Debutation?????????? -fatherfiguregf
Then there’s also a bunch of fans who are just making it known that it feels like this building is trolling us. However, this one encapsulates the energy of those comments best:
I love it when the Empire State Building trolls us 😂🤡🫶
Well, whether the Empire State Building was hinting at something or not, history tells us that it’s at least worth our time to think about whether there is a bigger meaning behind it trolling us. Swift’s street fashion has hinted at projects before, and fans are always clowning about something (whether it's TS13 or a re-release). So, I think it’s worth weighing the possibilities that this could be hinting at Debut’s re-release.
However, take this with a grain of salt. It could also mean absolutely nothing.
No matter what it means, though, one thing I know for sure is the Empire State Building knows how to get the Swifties talking, and now I’m very excited about what the future might hold in terms of new (and re-released) projects from Taylor Swift.
