Taylor Swift acts in, sings, wrote the song for, and directs her stunning new video “Lavender Haze” — a lovely nod to Jimi Hendrix‘s “Purple Haze.” (Hendrix’s famous line — “lately things just don’t seem the same” — is something to which Swift can well relate, and sings about.)
But Swift does even more than all those jobs — she also has the final word on casting in the video, especially when it comes to her lover. That part was won by the handsome Laith Ashley De La Cruz, who goes by Laith Ashley. Ashley is a transgender actor, model, and activist known for his work on the reality show “Strut” and in “Pose” on FX.
Ashley makes a powerful impression without saying — or singing — a word during the first look viewers have of him, as Swift contemplates his shirtless torso in bed. It’s a striking image sure to stay with Swifties, some of whom are getting their first brush with trans culture here.
Swift’s casting of a trans activist as her lover is a statement simply made — without Swift’s claiming to be taking any kind of LGBTQ stand at all. It just is what it is. That’s the biggest statement, perhaps, that a star of Swift’s magnitude can make.
Actions, after all, are reputed to speak so much louder than words.
Swift goes so far to call Ashley her “co-star” — which is a high commendation, considering this is really Taylor Swift’s show all the way.
Swift wrote: “There is my incredible costar @laith_ashley who I absolutely adored working with.”
The Lavender Haze video is out now. There is lots of lavender. There is lots of haze. There is my incredible costar @laith_ashley who I absolutely adored working with.https://t.co/auFTSVBP0A pic.twitter.com/RXWPuKvkxK
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 27, 2023
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