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We all know Taylor Swift *loves* an easter egg. She meticulously scatters clues and hints for fans to decipher that may lead them to conclude exactly she's doing next. Because of that, Swifties are frequently on their toes, wondering what Taylor's next move could be. Tbh, some of these easter egg investigations get really outlandish. 

But there is one widespread Swiftie theory that has outlasted many and likely won't go away anytime soon. Need us to fill you in? 

Yes, we're talking about the Karma theory. Fans have been speculating that Taylor Swift has a mystery album known as Karma that hasn't been released (yet). In between the releases of the albums 1989 and reputation, many observant Swifties felt that there was something missing that perhaps could have been a whole album-slash-era. Since then, fans have been trying to piece together hints about what it could have been, as well as what it might become in the future. Intrigued or convinced? After you see the evidence, you might just be the latter. 

Music videos

"The Man" music video

One of the most glaringly obvious nods to the theorized Karma album can be found in "The Man" music video, specifically the scene in which all of Taylor's album titles are painted on a wall. However, there is one outlier. "Karma" is also written on the wall. Btw, orange is often associated with the speculated album, and orange lettering is used for one of the "Karma" inscriptions. 

"I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)" music video

Besides Taylor Lautner reuniting with Taylor Swift, our fave detail from the "I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)" music video is the color of the vault: orange. Like we said, when it comes to Karma, orange matters! In case you haven't seen the video yet, Taylor Lautner and Joey King break Swift (and the Speak Now (Taylor's Version) album cover) out of an orange vault. Fans are theorizing that the color represents Karma, specifically the album being unreleased like Taylor's other "From The Vault" songs. 

"Look What You Made Me Do" music video

After the "I Can See You (Taylor's Version (From The Vault)" music video came out, tons of Swifties started to look back at the music video for "Look What You Made Me Do," the first single from reputation. For starters, Taylor is seen in an orange jumpsuit in an orange cage. Need we say more? Towards the end of the video, there's a plane that says TV6 (for "Taylor's Version 6," perhaps?) which she spray paints "reputation" over. And what color was the spray paint? You guessed it: orange. Swifites theorized that TV6 was meant to be Karma, and it was written over by reputation because Taylor felt like she had to release that album first. Oh, and of course we can't forget LWYMMD's famous lyric, "All I think about is karma." 

Taylor's input

"Karma" song title reveal

You may be thinking, "Doesn't Taylor have a song called 'Karma?'" When Taylor announced the song title in preparation for the release of Midnights, it was hard to ignore her mischievous laugh upon sharing the song name. She could have just been excited to give us as iconic of a line as "Karma is my boyfriend" (which, tbh, is totally reasonable), or she maybe could have been sending fans a little sign that she has something up her sleeve. 

@taylorswift Episode 8… been excited to announce this one 😆🌌 #TSmidnighTS #SwiftTok #MidnightsMayhemWithMe ♬ Midnights Mayhem episode 8 - Taylor Swift

"Karma is real."

In 2016, one and a half years before the release of reputation, Taylor went on Vogue's "73 Questions." Why does this matter? Up until reputation, before she disappeared for a year following her drama with Kanye West, she released an album every two years. Since she didn't release anything in 2016, her appearance in Vogue was a huge deal. During the interview, she was asked, "What do you think is the most important life lesson for someone to learn?" Taylor responded, "That karma is real." The running theory is that Karma the album was supposed to be released before reputation around the time of this interview. Tons of Swifties believe this is an easter egg from Taylor, while others think this was just a coincidence.

Is Karma next?

Orange door

At the end of the Eras Tour, while Taylor and her dancers are performing the final song (which is "Karma," btw), an orange door ascends from the top of the stage, and everyone exits through it. Could she be more on the nose? Fans are pretty sure that this means that she's going to release Karma after all of her rerecorded albums.

@scottscottscott33 Anyone have any theories about the orange door? It keeps me up at night! #taylorswift #taylorsversion #taylornation #swifttok #swiftie #erastour @Taylor Swift @Taylor Nation ♬ 7AM (Sped Up) - adrian

Read these while blasting Speak Now (Taylor's Version):
🧡 Our fave re-recorded moments from Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
🧡 A nondefinitive ranking of the vault tracks from Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
🧡 Speak Now: Then vs. now

Are you a huge Swiftie? Then you'll love following @girlslifemag on Instagram! 

All GIFS via GIPHY
Top image: @bethany_pendleton
Slider image: @taylorswift

by Kayla Conroy and Haley Kramer | 7/25/2023