Fans Think Ryan Reynolds’ New Commercial Contains a Dig at Scooter Braun

• Ryan Reynolds released a commercial featuring Taylor Swift' (opens in new tab)s new recording of early hit "Love Story"—and fans think it makes reference to Swift's conflict with Scooter Braun (opens in new tab).
• Braun recently purchased and resold Swift's master recordings (opens in new tab) of her first six albums against her will, resulting in a public dispute between the two.
• Reynolds is a close friend of Swift (opens in new tab), and fans think he hid a subtle dig at Braun in his commercial.

Don't you love a bit of detective work of a Thursday morning? (Or, in this case, reviewing the solid detective work performed by others?) Taylor Swift's highly attentive fanbase have a new and compelling theory, as People reports (opens in new tab): that Ryan Reynolds made a subtle dig at Scooter Braun, who's embroiled in an ongoing conflict with Swift over his purchase and subsequent sale of her masters (opens in new tab), in his latest commercial.

Let's unpack: On Thursday, Ryan Reynolds released a new ad for Match, which appropriately depicts the charming love story between Satan and (a person named) 2020. The commercial, Swift subsequently confirmed on Twitter, is soundtracked by a new recording of one of her earliest hits, "Love Story."

Swift is in the process of re-recording her first six albums, after celebrity manager Braun purchased then resold the master recordings for a reported $300 million. And since Swift is close friends with both Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively, it makes sense that she'd allow Reynolds to use a sneak peek of her first re-record in his commercial.

In the commercial, Satan and 2020 pose for a selfie in front of a dumpster fire—again, an accurate representation of the past year. Here's where fans detected the Braun reference: In the background, next to another dumpster, a discarded scooter lies on the floor. Get it? Scooter? What's more, painted on the wall behind the scooter is the number 6—as in the six albums Swift is currently re-recording. Thus, the hypothesis: Either Ryan Reynolds inserted a reference to Scooter Braun in a commercial about the chaos and misery of 2020, as an apparent show of support for Taylor Swift, or Reynolds and Swift teamed up on the commercial to make a joint dig at Braun.

Swift's fans expressed delight at the reference on Twitter: "Dude—that abandoned scooter in the commercial's dumpster fire scene was... *chef's kiss*," one tweeted (opens in new tab) at Reynolds. "Ryan Reynolds having them put a scooter next to a dumpster while Taylor Swift plays into the background of the new Match commercial is my favorite part of 2020," another wrote (opens in new tab). Awaiting Braun's response via subway ad for Tinder!