Taylor Swift, 29, dropped her new single “Archer” on July 23. Three days later, Ariana Grande, 26, captioned a photo from an undisclosed “video” with a bow and arrow — you know, an archer’s weapon! Fans thought Ariana’s choice in emoji was no coincidence. “If you’re having collab with Tay on her Lover album, please like this comment. Thank you 💕🏹,” one such fan commented, while another speculated, “‘The Archer’ remix.” The rest of Ariana’s comments section was filled with remarks such as “The archer?” and “Ohh 🏹🏹🏹,” all references to Taylor’s latest track in which she sings about being both the archer and prey.
The speculation was especially heavy thanks to the photo that Ariana left the bow and arrow emoji under [SEEN HERE]. It was snapped on set of a mysterious video in the works, as she teased under another photo taken from the same set, “i even wear @givenchyofficial in my videos ☺️.” In a third post, Ari tagged Hannah Lux Davis, who directed four of the pop star’s latest music videos: “Breathin,” “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings” and “Break Up with your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” One fan even took one of these music videos (“Breathin”) to be a separate clue, thanks to the cloud and umbrella motifs that are also seen in Taylor and Brendon Urie’s “ME!” music video.
“THE ME! MUSIC VIDEO!! a lot of arianators came at taylor for saying how they think taylor ‘copied’ ariana’s videos but i think it’s a clue. Dave Meyers directed ME! & ntltc & his image for videos are generally the same. breathin was directed by hannah luxe davis but some images…some images were very similar,” one fan tweeted in two separate tweets, adding, “The first time watching the me! music video, the umbrellas spiked my interest because ariana had that in her video. the clouds in me! are similar to the breathin video. again i don’t think taylor copied ari but i think it could be a clue.”
Meanwhile, some fans believed Ariana was simply showing her support for Tay’s latest track. “She supports the archer,” one of those fans commented under Ariana’s post. Whatever these two are brewing in the studio (whether that be together or separately), it would be interesting timing for a collab. On June 30, Taylor put Ariana’s manager Scooter Braun, 38, on blast after he purchased her former label Big Machine Label Group and therefore acquired rights to her entire music catalog pre-2019, a transaction that left her feeling “sad and grossed out.” While Ariana hasn’t spoken on the drama, her and Scooter have remained tight. Scooter even shared a photo of him, Ari and Demi Lovato with the caption “Fam” on July 22, to which Ariana reacted with a black heart emoji.