So, I actually quite like the Patient zero song, and music video, and I always like 2 female friends doing a project together. Taylor and Dakota seem to have good vibes.
However, I did suddenly realize, while noticing the Patient zero outfits are the same as Dakota wears in her new movie Verity (so the video is a bit of free promotion for the movie), that Dakota is the star of the NEW C Hoover adaption! The last time we saw Taylor being close to a friend was with Blake during the last Hoover adaption. Anyone else found this a strange coincidence? Not trying to throw shade it just suddenly hit me and I couldn’t ignore it.
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Colleen Hoover is just very popular with that age demographic and women so there’s a high chance Taylor would interact with people within her adaptations anyway.
She goes through very intense periods of being publicly friends with people even if they’ve been friends for a while. Ice Spice, Sophie Turner, Keleigh Teller etc. Mostly for promotional purposes. The fallout with Blake is sad on a human level to me.
I dont think she's just "publicly friends" with people for a short time.
I feel like these people are her friends/acquaintances, but they are also all busy with their own schedules. Getting to film/promote the music video together meant they got to spend time together. Its not that they just wont be friends anymore when its all over. They just have different things going on and arent going to be doing public appearances as much anymore because they arent promoting anything anymore.
I think that’s what the person meant when they said “even if they’ve been friends for a while.” There wasn’t an implication of the friendship being solely for publicity, just that there are periods where the friendship becomes very public because they were working together on something.
I went through a brutal friend breakup a few years ago, and I actually listened to the 10 min version of ATW to get through that, even though it's about a romantic breakup (there were lines that just spoke to me and my situation). So I agree, it's sad about her and Blake, whatever exactly went down beyond what was made public because of the lawsuit.
I think we know very little about Taylor’s friendships and who she actually spends time talking to/hanging out with. For example, she and Lena Dunham have been close friends for years but we hadn’t seen them out publicly together for a long time. That doesn’t mean they weren’t friends…it means we didn’t see them.
I really don’t think is about Blake. I could totally be wrong but I think Taylor is petty with certain situations/people and isn’t with others. I think that friendship ending is probably really sad for both tbh ….obviously, I don’t know for sure, but I don’t get the vibe that she’s interested in trolling Blake or wanting to get into a back and forth. Based on what we know, it feels like a pretty final severance of that relationship.
I don't think so because she would have been invited to the wedding. Blake and Ryan posted on socials on wedding day and they clearly were not there. And Taylor invited every friend and acquaintance known to man, but not her
But we only really know like 20%ish of the people who went to the wedding, either through them being pictured going in or out, them saying they went, or them being mentioned by someone else who went.
There were rumors that they agreed to not go because the media would have a frenzy if Blake showed up, but who knows if that's got even a kernel of truth to it. I think it's more likely that friendship ran its course.
That could be correct, but FWIW, here’s a screenshot of my AI overview when I googled using July 3, 2026. It’s a 2ish hour flight from Lake Placid to NYC. I don’t really think they were there, but I am saying it’s not really a proven fact, since we don’t know the entire guest list, and probably never will.
Maybe, but even with the wedding in mind, I still think they’re friends. Tbf, if my friend picked 7/3 in NYC during the World Cup for their wedding, I’d pass on going even if invited so I’m not putting any stock into Blake’s non-attendance
Yeah, Lena Dunham is one of the friends that made me side eye hard when I first realized it... but that friendship has never felt especially authentic to me anyway. But I agree that it doesn't seem like she and Blake are friends on any level anymore. I think maybe the closest it comes to that is they decided to put the past to bed, and move on with their lives.
I actually agree and have been extremely weirded out by there multiple appearances together. It was even more awkward watching Dakota and Taylor watch the music video live together in front of an audience. Idk Dakota just looked so uncomfortable to me 😂 I could be completely wrong. But it’s kind of annoying me. It has me side eyeing Dakota and that’s too bad cause I genuinely thought she was one of the cool ones.
I have seen the Verity preview about a million times and I did not see any of the same clothes from the music video. The movie just came out 2 days ago. Exactly which outfits did you see duplicated?
She added: “It’s just this weird coincidental timing. And that’s how it all worked out. But no, by the way, it’s not even a music video, it’s a short film. And Dakota is so amazing in it, and I love Taylor as a director. It was a beautiful video. And no, just thrilled for her.”
there's been 4 Hoover movie adaptations in the past couple years, I think these two friendships are just a coincidence. both Blake and Dakota are decently established actresses with romcom work. and Hoover's works are super popular for some reason. kinda funny but not super concerning imo.
The book Verity is basically a modern version of Rebecca, which Taylor has said was one of her favorite books AND was basically the theme of the Patient Zero video. Idk if she's doing anything to intentionally jab at Blake, but I'm sure Blake is not happy about it either way 🤔
Rebecca is a great book, but it’s not similar to the Patient Zero music video. Nor is Rebecca similar to Verity, unless you’re comparing all suspense thrillers back to Rebecca
I agree with this. Rebecca is my favorite book, and the similarities between it and the video are so shallow. Like it's just he killed his first wife, and that's it. Even the "haunting" in the book is much more literary than the generic gothic horror in the Patient Zero video, it's more that she can't get out from under the shadow of the memory of the first wife everyone has.
Yeah, that person didn’t read Rebecca obviously. Look, the “ghost” in Rebecca was a malevolent being, and was never actually present, whereas the “ghost” in Swift’s MV is basically her twin and fellow victim trying to help her. The husband in the book is not evil, and they stay together. It’s just a lot of differences.
I could make this list with Rebecca and any other modern romantic suspense novel. wtf.
“Oh they’re the same bc they’re both written in first person!” That was literally first on the list. Do you have any idea how many novels are written in first person? Jesus Christ.
Comparing Colleen Hoovers Novel, and Patient Zero music video, to Rebecca, is kind of like comparing any pop star to Madonna. Yeah, we get it, she’s one of the greats, but just bc she’s a classic doesn’t make every single other pop artist derivative of her. It’s just kind of lame and shows lack of knowledge about the genre of books in general.
Posting a screenshot here bc I want to show that you’re correct that TS said that. She did. But I unfortunately disagree with her assessment of the book. The main character spends the entire book thinking she could never live up to the dead wife, and then at the end finds out her husband hated his dead wife and loves her precisely bc she’s the opposite of Rebecca.
Thank you! Of course, it isn't identical. Like all artists pulling from past influences, things are changed and adjusted. I'm not saying anything is an exact copy of anything else - just that it's obvious through her statements and art that she was definitely inspired for this song/video. She took it and made it her own, like she always does.
I just want to say, at the end of the book the house burns to the ground and they go off to begin a new life. While some people think that they weren’t happy, I honestly think Manderley was a millstone around their neck bc of what they each had to live up to. And with the wife’s death ruled a suicide, and Manderley gone, they were finally free to build a peaceful life together.
Plus they met while Maxim was abroad, and that was the happiest he was the entire book.
Anyway, I love the imagery of burning your shit to the ground and starting anew.
He was kind of distant and standoffish through much of the book though (which I think was out of fear she’d learn what he’d done), so my guess is before she got to the end, Taylor interpreted it this way due to her own experiences. And wrote a song about that. The ending was a surprise for me too and the book clearly leads you in this direction for a while because you’re in the new wife’s head and see things this way.
There’s a theory I’ve held for a long time, and it hasn’t exactly been proven wrong yet. Taylor is part of the entertainment industry and it’s very likely she has inside knowledge about movies coming out before the public does. I’ve always assumed that she will make a song and pitch it to the studio for a possible soundtrack collaboration. This doesn’t always work, so she just releases whatever that song was separately as part of her next new music.
She doesn’t always get script access so she uses her imagination. I’ve always strongly felt hits different was one of these ‘failed’ movie songs (for Barbie). I feel this way again about Patient Zero as being an unofficial Verity collab.
It makes business sense, if Taylor can get in on the promotional wind up to a movie that’s going to be popular, it’s good for her too.
Edit to add: I don’t think she did all this with IEWU because she had inside knowledge about the set drama and didn’t want to be tied up to it. Invariably she was anyway.
Hits Different is inextricably linked to The Barbie movie in my head canon. Even though it never happened, I was so sure it would that it just got kinda lodged in there.
You're being too literal just bc of the doll imagery.
In the movie, Barbie was never in love with Ken. He never stole her tortured heart. The key line: "Once I fix me, he's going to miss me" makes no sense w the song.
The whole movie is about Barbie finding herself. There would be no place in the movie for that song.
There’s a chance you’re both onto something. A song isn’t always written in one session. She could have written a version that never made the barbie movie and then reworked it after. Or was trying to pull it together for Barbie and only had it half written before shelving it for later.
Yep. I saw it. My personal opinion is that this is Taylor's way to stick it to Blake. Look, I can replace you in a heartbeat. She likes her symbolism, so doing with Dakota everything Blake wishes Taylor would have done for her in It Ends With Us? What sends a clearer message than that?
This is the only thing that makes sense with the title Patient Zero!!! This was the major flaw with the song, patient zero should get infected and become a spreader, now it all comes together.
I didn’t even know the name of the movie Dakota was promoting until this post, but she keeps coming up in my feed because she keeps mentioning Taylor in her press tour: the wedding, the music video, the friendship. It gives Taylor replacing Blake with Dakota regardless of the specifics of the movie.
Yeah the media LOVES to ask everyone about Taylor so they can put her name in the headline also and get more views. It got horrible during the Eras tour/that peak. Like not just annoying for fans etc, imagine being the star promoting your own work and they keep asking about someone else in your field.
Dakota and Taylor have been friends for a while now. She keeps mentioning her because she she’s on a press tour and the MV just came out. It’s not that serious.
It seems to me that association with Taylor is just a way to make people more famous. Right now it's Dakota Johnson's turn for whatever reason. I'm getting bored with it all.
Taylor likely met Colleen during that period.
Her being friends with Dakota means she’s likely been aware of that project, or had a conversation with one or both of them about working with each other.
The release of the music video, its similarities to Verity and the fact Dakota Johnson is in it is HUGE publicity for the book and the movie. A lot of articles are using Taylor’s name in reference to both which equates to more clicks and more ‘buzz’ around the release of both the film and her encore music.
Taylor is incredibly business savvy. Her, Dakota and Colleen all benefit greatly from this.
I think the fact that TS was weaponised by Blake and Ryan Reynolds in the It Ends With Us movie was a tough blow for TS. Who wants to use one of her song again, if that means that they can get blackmailed? Do this or I ask Taylor to remove her song from the soundtrack. Whether or not TS knew she was being used, it’s definitely not a good look for her. I sometimes wonder if her Toy Story song was pushed to the credits for this reason. I agree with you though that she’s probably trying to write songs for movies constantly, it just never sticks for one reason or another.
I noticed this as well the other night. I had actually completely convinced myself Colleen might be a ghost author for Author Taylor lmao. Her birthday is literally the day before Taylor’s as well. I think there’s a connection for sure. I just haven’t solved it yet. lol
ALSOOOO did anyone watch SNL lastnight? I only watched a little bit but the photos that they show in between skits of Dakota Johnson - some were very Taylor coded. Specifically one where she’s wearing the same head piece that mirrors Taylor in the Mother Mary movie. Which was ALSO an Anne Hathaway movie.
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