| | |  | Taylor Swift News & Gossip
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| | Taylor Swift brought out her snow fairy vibes for her new album 'evermore' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Yesterday, Taylor Swift dropped the big, surprising news: she had secretly recorded yet another full-length album during lockdown this year, and this new album, evermore, was a companion piece/sister album to folklore. I assume this album will have tons of merch too! She?s gonna make so much money, even without touring. Anyway, the album dropped at midnight, as did the first video/single from evermore. This is ?Willow.?
To me, this is just soft, chill music to have on in the background. Good driving music too. But ?Willow? didn?t catch me like ?Cardigan? did, although that?s actually a pretty high bar, imo. I thought ?Cardigan? was one of her best songs/singles in years.
Taylor also released some lyric videos on her YouTube channel. Here?s ?Marjorie,? which is about her grandmother.
Here?s ?Champagne Problems? lyrically, this is kind of interesting. She?s basically like ?yeah, I?m rich and popular but damn, I hurt too!?
?Cowboy Like Me? I enjoy this one too.
Presented without comment.
YOU'RE TELLING ME Taylor Swift IS DROPPING A NEW COTTAGECORE ALBUM ON THE SAME DAY AS EMILY DICKINSON'S BIRTHDAY CALLED EVERMORE WHICH IS HOW EMILY DICKINSON CLOSED ONE OF HER MOST ROMANTIC POEMS THAT SHE WROTE FOR HER LOVER SUE GILBERT???? pic.twitter.com/NYeIymeihc
wassim'???'? (@tayIordspatroI) December 10, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift donated $13K to two Tennessee women facing economic hardship | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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A few days ago, the Washington Post ran a story trying to encapsulate the dire economic situation millions of Americans are facing this pandemic year. With mass unemployment, people are behind in rent and utilities payments, not to mention all of the food insecurity in a cold winter around the holidays. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stalled every effort to pass another stimulus bill and thousands of people are dying everyday from a deadly virus. In the WaPo piece, several people were named and quoted as being thousands behind on rent and bills. Well, Taylor Swift read the article and she found the GoFundMe pages of two of the women quoted, and she donated $13,000 each to those women.
Taylor Swift continues to give generously. The folklore songstress recently touched the lives of two women who have been struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nikki Cornwell, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Shelbie Selewski of Harrison Township, Michigan were featured in a Washington Post article about shining a light on Americans who have been facing eviction, unemployment and struggling to pay their bills amid the crisis.
Evidently, Swift was moved by their difficult situations, and decided to help out by donating $13,000 to each to their GoFundMe campaigns. Swift also left a heartfelt personal message on each of the campaigns, sharing her love and support for the women.
Shelbie, Im sending you this gift after reading about you in the Washington Post, Swift wrote to Selewskis GoFundMe page. No one should have to feel the kind of stress thats been put on you. I hope you and your beautiful family have a great holiday season. Love, Taylor.
Swift also shared a touching sentiment on Cornwells GoFundMe page, writing, Nikki, I read about you in the Washington Post and thought it was really brave of you to share your story. Im so sorry for everything youve had to go through this year and wanted to send you this gift, from one Nashville girl to another. Love, Taylor.
[From ET]
Super-classy of Taylor and of course she used her favorite number (13) with the donation. Shocked she didn?t donate $13,013. And by leaving personal notes on their Go Fund Me pages, Taylor knows her donations will make news and draw more people to seek out those pages and maybe donate more. All that being said, this is not the way any of this should have worked! Fk Mitch McConnell, fk the Republican Senate and fk all of these Republicans who have failed to help Americans during the pandemic. McConnell *wants* President Biden to have to deal with a double-digit recession and mass unemployment in his first year.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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| | Taylor Swift's fans doxxed a Pitchfork critic for giving 'folklore' a mostly positive review | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Years ago, I would feel a sense of dread whenever Taylor Swift put out an album. It wasn?t because I hated her music or anything, it?s because A) I hated all of the exhaustive and often juvenile backstories of Taylor?s many grudges, many of which were disseminated through lyrical ?blind items? and B) some people within Taylor?s fanbase, aka the Snake Fam, are incredibly toxic. It was less than one year ago just November 2019 when Taylor told her fans to ?let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel? about her business beef with them. The Snake Fam doxxed Braun and Borchetta, sent death threats to Big Machine employees and harassed Scooter?s wife.
I hoped that sh-t was over with Taylor?s new album. I hoped that her fans would mature with her, and that Taylor would have learned by now that it?s incredibly dangerous to weaponize her fanbase against her real or perceived enemies. So? what happened? Pitchfork reviewer Jillian Mapes gave a measured and mostly positive review of folklore, Taylor?s latest album. Mapes complimented the album but it was not a sycophantic ?TAYLOR IS THE BEST AT EVERYTHING? sort of piece. Which led to the Snake Fam doxxing this poor woman.
The calls started around 2 in the morning?an hour after Pitchfork senior editor Jillian Mapes? review of Taylor Swift?s eighth album, Folklore, posted on the site. It was a largely positive review. But it was not positive enough for a certain subset of fans, who began to use some of the internet?s dirtiest and most dangerous tactics to harass the writer who?d dared to scorn their queen with insufficient praise. Mapes? even-handed review deftly and artfully expressed Folklore?s strengths and weaknesses?and given Pitchfork?s historical skepticism toward popular artists, the piece might as well have been a rave.
But certain lines didn?t sit well with Swift?s most rabid fans. And perhaps more importantly, the 8.0 numerical score that accompanied Mapes? review?a metric determined not by the reviewer, but from multiple staffers? ratings?threatened to drag down the album?s aggregated Metacritic score. That, apparently, was an intolerable insult.
Various tweets, some of which have now been deleted or removed and some of which still remain, included Mapes? address and phone numbers old and current. Some have included photos of Mapes and even her home. Users have ?joked? about burning her house. Others have posted screenshots of a Halsey tweet responding to a bad review earlier this year?in which the singer wrote, ?can the basement that they run p*tchfork out of just collapse already.? Halsey deleted the tweet at the time after realizing that Pitchfork is, in fact, run out of One World Trade Center. Swift?s representative did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Despite these fans? insistence that their concern is the fairness and quality of the reviews Folklore receives, they really appear fixated on the album?s Metacritic score. Specifically, many lamented the possibility that Folklore could drop below a 90. At the time of writing, the album?s Metascore is an 89.
Music stans have begun using elaborate methods to boost new releases from their favorite artists in recent years. They coordinate streaming parties and create hours-long playlists and pool money to buy as many fans digital copies of new releases as possible. All of this aims to boost albums? and songs? chart positions by getting as many people listening for as many hours as possible, on as many platforms as possible. But in targeting a journalist like this, some fans have taken things to a dangerous extreme. And perhaps more importantly, this is not the first time that Swift?s most zealous fans have used doxxing and death threats to punish people they feel have wronged her.
[From The Daily Beast]
Yeah, again go and read the Pitchfork review. It?s clear that Mapes liked the album, and it was a pretty positive review. Even if Pitchfork had trashed the album, that wouldn?t be a ?good reason? to doxx some music critic, but the situation is even more ridiculous because the review was generally a rave. Just because the Snake Fam thinks Taylor farts rainbows and invented folk-pop doesn?t mean we all have to think that. There?s always a conversation about whether a celebrity can be blamed for their fans? actions. Last year, with Borchetta and Braun, I believed that Taylor was actively trying to weaponize her fans. In this situation, I think it?s just a case of some of her fans being way too extra. Could Taylor shut it down if she said something to them? I don?t know, honestly.
Photos courtesy of Taylor Swift, WENN and Avalon Red.
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| | Taylor Swift is 'happy to make a contribution' to 'The Folklore' business owner | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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As we discussed, Taylor Swift is in some hot water. Or maybe just ?very warm water.? While Taylor dropped her latest album, folklore, with zero advanced press or fanfare, she did organize a huge merchandise campaign, and originally, the merch included the label ?The Folklore Album.? The labels looked a lot like the labels/branding for The Folklore, a Black-owned business. Amira Rasool owns The Folklore, and as soon as she caught a glimpse of Taylor?s merch, she contacted Taylor?s people. Taylor and Rasool?s teams have been talking and Taylor has already changed the labels, dropping ?the? from ?the folklore album.? Rasool said more to WWD:
When Amira Rasool saw the merch one week ago: ?I was so surprised and so shocked and it was really devastating. I saw it happen to small Black business owners, and I was really sad,? she said. She had her lawyers at Fenwick & West reach out to Swift?s team to let them know about the similarity in the logo design and how it was causing confusion in the market. Rasool said she had already received an e-mail from one of Swift?s fans inquiring about the album?s digital download.
This is interesting: ?The main thing was having ?The Folklore? when the album was just called ?Folklore,? Rasool said. She also believes there was similarity to the way the word ?the? in the logo was vertically placed. She said if one Googles ?The Folklore,? Rasool?s logo comes up, and she feels Swift?s people would have seen that. Swift is making sweatshirts and merchandise, along with a cardigan that ties in with one of her songs.
Taylor?s management?s statement: ?Yesterday, we were made aware of a complaint that the specific use of the word ?the? before ?Folklore album? on some of the Folklore album merchandise was of concern. Absolutely no merchandise using ?the? before the words ?Folklore Album? has been manufactured or sent out. In good faith, we honored her request and immediately notified everyone who had ordered merchandise with the word ?the? preceding ?Folklore Album,? that they will now receive their order with the design change.?
What The Folklore is all about: The Folklore, a New York-based web site that received its trademark in 2018, features more than 30 designers from Africa and the diaspora and serves as a cultural hub for contemporary brands, artists and creates to showcase their personal stories. Most of the fashion, accessories and homewares are handmade by local artisans based in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Cote D?Ivoire. In addition to operating as an online concept store, The Folklore also provides wholesale services to African designer brands interested in penetrating the global retail market. ?It?s not just damaging to one Black woman, it?s all the brands that we work with,? Rasool said. All of her web site?s merchandise says ?The Folklore? on its hangtags, but the actual designer?s name is on the inside label. Rasool said she eventually plans to make merchandise with ?The Folklore? label.
The snake fam attacked Rasool: Rasool said Swift?s fans were attacking her on Twitter for speaking out ?and calling me b?h and a liarShe [Taylor] has stood up and defended her trademarks before. She?s a big proponent of people standing up and speaking out. For me to be attacked and say I?m doing this for attention?,? she said. People on Twitter were vehement, saying there was no similarity in the logo?s design. But the name is the same. ?I think there was a lot of damage to my brand for me speaking out. I don?t think I deserved that.?
[From WWD]
Interesting how WWD dropped the most important legal issue in there Rasool owns the trademark for ?The Folklore.? And before last week, ?The Folklore? site was one of the first hits on Google, so clearly? people on Taylor?s team did not do their due diligence before the merchandise was made. I also think the statement from Taylor?s team doesn?t make much sense ?Absolutely no merchandise using ?the? before the words ?Folklore Album? has been manufactured or sent out.? Clearly, the merch was manufactured. The merch was not sent out, because they began changing the labels (to the merch which was manufactured!). I mean, how did Rasool know there was an issue if the merch had not already been manufactured, you know?
Anyway, all of that to say, Taylor did respond to one of Rasool?s tweets yesterday. I feel like Taylor is trying to do right. Now. After her team clearly fked up and after her unhinged fans attacked Rasool online. Also: ?contribution to your company? might be code for Taylor paying a quiet settlement for stepping all over Rasool?s trademark.
Amira, I admire the work you?re doing and I?m happy to make a contribution to your company and to support the Black in Fashion Council (launching on 8/3) with a donation ?@thefolklore @amirarasool @bifcglobal #blackinfashioncouncil
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 30, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift's 'folklore' seems light on blind-item snake drama, right' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, folklore, last week. I?ve been hearing ?Cardigan? on the radio all week, and I?ve been enjoying it more and more every time I hear it. It?s a really nice, chilled-out summer song, and I actually think the tinge of sadness/nostalgia really works for this summer in particular. This is not the summer where people are partying non-stop. Perhaps bittersweet nostalgia vibes work best in a pandemic. That?s what critics are saying too, that this album is great and it?s got a really nice vibe and all of that. And as always, the sales are amazing. She sold more than 1.4 million albums/downloads in the first 24 hours. ?Cardigan? has been #1 on Spotify since it came out.
There?s been a lot of, uh, Snake Fam conversations about ?did Taylor reveal the baby name of Blake Lively?s third child,? and? okay, I get it, the fam loves some inane Taylor Swift blind items. But what?s even more surprising is that? there arent more of those blind items. Have you noticed that? Usually we would be knee-deep in conspiracies, thinkpieces, blind item mysteries and more. While Taylor has gotten great reviews, there?s also not a lot of media and gossip beyond that.
Personally, I?m more interested in her quarantine bangs and general styling around folklore. I?m enjoying the folksy styling, but the quarantine bangs have to go! Turns out, she styled herself for the ?cardigan? video she said: ?I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling. The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other.? That?s pretty awesome, because I was wondering about that. It?s one thing to create an album in quarantine, when people can work in separate studios or socially distance in a studio. But putting together a music video in lockdown conditions is something else. And she did it!
She also released a second video for Cardigan.
Incidentally, if you want some vintage Kaylor drama, check this out. My question is: has Karlie Kloss really not ?liked? any of Taylor?s tweets or Instagrams in the past week?
Also, this was very sweet:
.@TaylorSwift13 sends ?folklore? merch to Kobe Bryant?s daughter, Natalia:
?I?m OBSESSED with folklore!? pic.twitter.com/VtmG2nGgPL
Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 25, 2020
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| | Are Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban breaking Australia's quarantine rules' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are back in Australia because she?s about to film a movie there next month. They arrived more than two weeks ahead of the production start date specifically so they could follow the Australian government?s quarantine regulations. Australia has been held up as one of the success stories in the pandemic because they locked down early and thoroughly, and as of this writing, they have had less than 15,000 cases and less than 200 deaths. There is a spike in infections in Victoria which has caused concerns of a ?second wave,? but that?s why Australia is still enforcing strict quarantine and travel rules. One of those rules is about quarantining for two weeks when someone arrives in the country, which is what Nicole and Keith are doing. But the rule is that people have to quarantine in specific government-run hotel rooms where (I would presume) they can be monitored and tested regularly. Nicole and Keith aren?t doing that?
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have been caught up in controversy in their native Australia after claims the couple were flouting the country?s ultra-strict quarantine protocols in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Australia, it?s mandatory for citizens arriving from another country to quarantine for two weeks in a government-managed hotel room. According to a report in The Times, the pair were hit with backlash when it was discovered they were able to skip the state-mandated hotel and quarantine at their luxurious home, located 75 miles outside Sydney.
New South Wales Premiere Gladys Berejiklian has stated that there will be ?no exceptions? from the hotel quarantine; however, Kidman and Urban were granted an exemption, even though the published rules state that exemptions will only be granted ?in very limited circumstances on grounds of health or compassion.? New South Wales health authorities, The Times reports, wouldn?t comment on why they couple and their children were allowed to quarantine at their home.
However, Kidman?s publicist, Wendy Day, insisted everything is on the up and up.
?It?s absolute garbage,? Day told The Sydney Morning Herald. ?She is paying for all her own security and following all the rules, they are in isolation.?
Kidman, Day added, is using the time in quarantine to prepare for her new role in Hulu miniseries ?Nine Perfect Strangers?, with the $100-million production scheduled to being production on Aug. 10.
[From ET]
They?re not actually breaking the rules while the local officials have said that ?there will be no exceptions,? it?s clear that Australian authorities are giving exceptions to many high-profile people and celebrities entering the country. I would assume that Nicole and Keith have been told to just stay in their big mansion and not go out at all and that?s what they?re doing. Which is what they would have been doing at a government-run hotel too, although we don?t know the testing protocols and whether or not Kidman & Urban are following those. Basically, Nicole and Keith aren?t technically breaking the rules but they are getting special treatment from the government because they?re rich and famous.
Nicole is also listening to Taylor Swift?s folklore, and Nicole posted this video from behind-the-scenes on the set of Beguiled, a few years ago. Nicole thinks her look on that movie makes her ?folklore sisters? with Taylor. Which is super-cute, honestly.
View this post on Instagram
On the set of #BeguiledMovie ?#Folklore Sisters Love this album xx
A post shared by Nicole Kidman (@nicolekidman) on Jul 24, 2020 at 5:23pm PDT
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| | Taylor Swift's 'folklore' is full of rainy-day chilled-out woodland fairy drama | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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View this post on Instagram
In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I?ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it?s up to you to pass them down. folklore is out now. ?: Beth Garrabrant
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 23, 2020 at 9:06pm PDT
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| | Taylor Swift will release her new album 'folklore' tonight at midnight | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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I?ve been so grateful that Taylor Swift hasn?t chimed in this month on Kanye West. She could have said some sh-t, and I think there would have been many people who would have applauded her if she said some sh-t, but she didn?t. And so I?ll applaud her maturity there. It?s also interesting to see how Taylor hasn?t been making a ton of news during the lockdown/pandemic. She?s used her platform to talk about Black Lives Matter and good for her, but there hasn?t been any gossip. I wondered if she was using this time to work and it turns out, she was doing exactly that. She?s pulling a Beyonce and dropping a surprise album at midnight tonight. The album is called folklore.
Surprise ? Tonight at midnight I?ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I?ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb pic.twitter.com/4ZVGy4l23b
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 23, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift wants Juneteenth to be a national holiday & she gave her staff the day off | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Happy Juneteenth! It should be said more often: Taylor Swift has been perfect during the pandemic. I?m being completely serious! She was there, very early on before states began to close, telling her fans to social distance and avoid public spaces. Taylor?s ass has been in lockdown all this time too the only times we?ve ?seen? her in months is through her own social media. She?s been using this downtime to work, reflect and educate herself, and work to be a better ally to all marginalized communities. In recent months, she?s posted heartfelt and accurate statements about Donald Trump?s white supremacy, the murder of Ahmaud Aubry, and the need to take down all of those stupid Confederate statues. And now this message about Juneteenth:
Happy Juneteenth! I want to thank @TheRoot and @RhapsoDani for allowing me to post this video about the significance of today, June 19th, and why it should be celebrated as a National holiday. https://t.co/7yjwh4Lddg
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 19, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift: Take down all of the statues & monuments to 'despicable' racists | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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I remember when that white supremacist sh-thead killed nine black people at bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, and the state of South Carolina decided, days later, to remove the Confederate flag from the state buildings. As it was happening, I thought it was too little, too late. But the reaction from the African-American community in SC was so positive, it became a reminder (to me) of the power of symbolism in our everyday lives. Especially here in the South, where CB and I live (not together!), there are those kinds of Confederate symbols, statues and iconography everywhere.
Growing up around those symbols warps you. It warped me. ?It?s just a dumb statue,? I would tell myself, ?yes it?s awful, but doesn?t matter.? But those dumb statues matter to neo-Nazis and those statues matter to the marginalized people who pass them every day. So now I say: rip them all down. Burn the Treason Flag. Behead every Columbus statue. Dismantle every memorial to slave traders and traitors. Taylor Swift has gotten to that point too. She posted this on her social media on Friday:
As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.
Edward Carmack?s statue was sitting in the state Capitol until it was torn down last week in the protests. The state of Tennessee has vowed to replace it. FYI, he was a white supremacist newspaper editor who published pro-lynching editorials and incited the arson of the office of Ida B. Wells (who actually deserves a hero?s statue for her pioneering work in journalism and civil rights). Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.
Then we get to this monstrosity. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a brutal slave trader and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who, during the Civil War, massacred dozens of black Union soldiers in Memphis. His statue is still standing and July 13th is ?Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.? Due to social pressure, the state is trying to overrule this, and Tennesseans might no longer have to stomach it. Fingers crossed.
Taking down statues isn?t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe not just the white ones. We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ?heroes? to ?villains.? And villains don?t deserve statues.
I?m asking the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments. When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can?t change history, but you can change this.
[From Taylor Swift?s Twitter]
When I find myself nodding in agreement with Taylor Swift on a regular basis, you know we?re through the looking glass. I have no problem with anything she said, nor do I have a problem with Taylor being the one to say it. This is an area where women like Taylor Swift succeed she?s using her inherent Karen-ness (or her inherent Darth Susan-ness) for good deeds. She wants to speak to the manager of racism in Tennessee and she?s demanding that the manager of racist statues speak to her concerns immediately. This is called ?using your privilege.? And Taylor knows the power of symbolism too. [Insert snake emoji]
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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