Taylor Swift Doc to Examine How She ‘Skillfully’ Navigated ‘Controversy’ Throughout Her Career
It’s no secret that Taylor Swift has become one of the most successful musicians of all time, but how did she get there? That’s exactly what a new documentary coming to the U.K.’s Channel 4 aims to find out.
As announced exclusively by Deadline on Tuesday (July 22), an upcoming two-part series tentatively titled Taylor will trace the pop star’s two-decade career from its early stages to becoming a billion-dollar, industry-dominating machine by way of insider interviews and fresh insights pulled from a “rare archive.” Guy King will direct the project, which does not yet have an official release date.
“Taylor Swift is an unprecedentedly powerful 21st century voice for women and young people,” King told the publication. “Under the microscope of social media since the earliest days of MySpace and Tumblr, she came of age during a new feminist wave.”
“With her fame came controversy, which she so skillfully wrestled to the floor,” the director added. “We’re excited to tell her story.”
King and his team will have an abundance of material to draw from as they dive into Swift’s historic rise. The Pennsylvania native has more Billboard Hot 100 entries than any other artist besides Drake, is the only musician to ever win album of the year at the Grammys four times, and has earned the title of first singer to ever become a billionaire based on songs and performances alone.
As far as “controversy” goes, Swift has plenty to analyze on that front as well. The musician has been scrutinized on everything from her love life to her feuds with fellow industry titans such as Kanye West and Scooter Braun, the latter of which culminated in Swift finally reclaiming ownership of her masters by purchasing them this past May.
With that in mind, Taylor will be far from the first documentary-style project to explore her life and career. Swift personally participated in Netflix’s Miss Americana, a Lana Wilson-directed doc about the musician’s trajectory and political awakening, in 2019.
Hannah Dailey
Billboard