How Working With Taylor Swift Was Different Than Dita Von Teese Expected

In the music video for her 2022 song "Bejeweled", Taylor Swift splashes around in a giant martini glass alongside Dita Von Teese. And according to the iconic burlesque performer, Swift was a very enthusiastic student. This was something Von Teese appreciated, because she's used to people just wanting to borrow her martini glass without much thought about her or her craft.

"Her assistant called and started talking to me about this project, and then suddenly Taylor got on," Von Teese told USA Today in a new interview. "It was really an amazing conversation. She knew everything about what I'd done. She did her research.

Von Teese found it refreshing that Swift, who also directed the music video, did not just want to borrow the prop from her famous burlesque routine, but rather wanted to include her in the video and learn from her.

"I'm used to people calling going, like, 'Oh, we'd really like to use your glass. Can we rent it? Can we borrow it?'" Von Teese said. "She was like, 'I want to showcase what you do. I think it's amazing, and I want you to be alongside me in this video.'"

The "Bejeweled" video—which is a sort of surreal Cinderella story—sees Swift magically arrive in a room wearing the same sparkly burlesque performance outfit as Von Teese. She and the vedette then do the same moves, including removing a stocking with a flourish, swirling around in huge martini glasses, and squeezing water from giant olive sponges on themselves.

" I kind of introduced her to my whole world," Von Teese said. "Like, here's the stockings I wear. Let's do the stocking peel. And she brought  a lot of new fans that maybe had never heard of burlesque, or never heard of me before."

Von Teese also shared about Swift being curious and respectful of her work in a behind-the-scenes video about the making of "Bejeweled" that was released in December 2024.

"She's really respectful of this act, and I love that she's really interested in learning," Von Teese said. "And she's being playful and fun and that’s the key to a great burlesque show, so she’s well on her way."

Swift praised Von Teese in the video, too, calling her "an absolute legend" and "unbelievable."

"I feel like she’s inspired so many people to perform by what she does," the Midnights singer went on. "And I reached out to her and asked if she would want to do her iconic martini glass performance in this video and she said yes!"

Swift was clearly excited, and how could you not be when you get to learn to dance in a human-sized martini glass from the expert in human-sized martini glass dancing?!