Despite Taylor Swift releasing the next song 'Ready For It?' from the album Reputation, we are still very much thinking about her last release, 'Look What You Made Me Do'.

It has been dissected this way and that, with easter egg after easter egg being found and the lyrics dismantled.

But one element many of us may have not been aware of is the backlash her backing dancer Todrick Hall has received.

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You will most certainly recognise Hall. He's a performer who rose to fame through American Idol, has choreographed for the likes of Swift and Beyoncé, is currently starring as the lead in Broadway's Kinky Boots, has been a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and is a YouTube star.

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Todrick Hall and Taylor Swift

Hall is also a friend of Taylor Swift, hence why he agreed to cameo directly to her right in 'that' dance scene in LWYMMD.

The scene from the music video of Swift, Hall and other male dancers in 'I heart TS' t-shirts was used as the teaser for the music video and came under immediate and immense scrutiny.

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\'Look What You Made Me Do\

It was suggested that the formation in which the dancers stood echoed that of Beyoncé's own choreography.

Many people personally attacked Hall for his inclusion in the shot, since it was read by certain people to allude to the Black Power movement, from which Beyoncé was inspired by for the visuals of her performances or 'Formation' and album Lemonade in general.

Hall, as a collaborator and friend of Swift outright denied these claims. He told Yahoo:

I was just very confused by that, because I knew that there was nothing 'Formation'-esque or Lemonade-esque about the video. Artistically, I didn't feel that was the case. I'm a humongous Beyoncé fan. I've worked with Beyoncé. I've choreographed for Beyoncé. And I would never intentionally be a part of art that I felt was ripping off my favourite artist of all time. But I felt like these were two completely different lanes.

This wasn't the only accusation flung at Hall, with many people angry at him for even working with or befriending Swift.

Swift has been under flack for her perceived lack of political stance in recent times.

Again, Hall strongly condemns the idea of Swift being secretly a Trump supporter, saying:

Yeah, many people have been tweeting me, 'She supports Trump! She probably voted for Trump!' They're making this huge assumption, when Taylor has never to my knowledge come out and said anything about her being pro-Trump. But people would still rather believe that she is the one who is pushing Trump's agenda. That was one of the major things that was tweeted at me, and I'm like, 'So you are mad that you think she might support Donald Trump? But you're not mad that Kanye has been very openly pro-Trump?' I don't understand that.

Hall defends her choice to say as little of as much as she wants:

He explains in detail in the Yahoo interview that he has had very open conversations about race and culture with her and her family, even watching the documentary 13th together and suggested that maybe one day she will come out as more political, but that she should be able to do that in her own time.

What hurts Hall the most, however, is the suggestion that simply by being friends with Swift, he is somehow letting down the black and gay community.

He explains that he has spent a lot of his career working only with white people, and however much pride he has for his heritage, he believes in equality and love no matter race, 'Yes, I have gotten comments from people who are upset and have literally said the fact that I am friends with a white person is a problem, because white people don't possess the ability to love or ever truly care about black people. And I find that very disheartening.'

Despite this long article defending both Swift and his friendship with her, much of Twitter doesn't seem to be impressed, including writer Roxane Gay, who Tweeted:

Thankfully, Hall has some stellar advice for Queen B herself which he applies to all his work, she apparently told him, 'Don't scroll down. Don't go down and look at comments, and when you do something as an artist, make a decision and stick to it. You don't need to apologise for things that you've done.'

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Daisy Murray
Digital Fashion Editor

Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.