Taylor Swift Secretly Wrote Argylle - A Wild Conspiracy Theory Explained

There's a new conspiracy theory making the rounds online ... so are you "ready for it?" 

The question heating up the internet is: Could pop superstar Taylor Swift be the secret author of "Argylle," the spy novel that was adapted into the upcoming film of the same name? Probably not, but Swifties have certainly compiled some compelling evidence.

Let's start from the beginning. The novel "Argylle" is a heightened thriller following the titular legendary CIA agent who has to work alongside a spymaster named Frances Coffrey to prevent a series of horrible events from happening worldwide. The movie, directed by Matthew Vaughn (known for the "Kingsman" films), uses the book's author, Elly Conway, as a narrative device. In the film, Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) herself is a character who is swept up in real-life espionage after writing a book about spies. This is all sort of confusing, but the big thing here is that nobody knows who the real-life Elly Conway actually is, and some Taylor Swift fans think she is writing under a pseudonym.

It's perfectly natural to find all of this a bit baffling, so here's some context, background, and evidence about this major pop culture mystery.

Here's the thing: Elly Conway does appear to be a pseudonym, but whether or not it's Taylor Swift's pseudonym is the real question at play. According to Conway's incredibly brief bio on her publisher Penguin's official website, the mysterious author was "born and raised in upstate New York. She wrote her first novel about Agent Argylle while working as a waitress in a late-night diner."

Conway occasionally posts on Instagram — or at least, the author maintains a verified account under the pen name. With fewer than 30 updates as of this writing, Conway, unsurprisingly, never physically appears in any of the posts but seems to enjoy candy, cheese pizza, brunch, and picturesque writing nooks. 

None of this, of course, points directly to Swift, but that hasn't stopped fans. In fact, on the vast majority of Conway's social media posts, Swifties seem to be leaving comments en masse referencing songs like "Mastermind" or speculating that "Elly" has time to write a novel because her boyfriend Travis Kelce is preparing for his next game with the Kansas City Chiefs. (If Conway is not Swift, this must be getting fairly exhausting.) 

Okay, so why do Swifties think that Elly Conway could even possibly be Taylor Swift? The theories range from "somewhat reasonable" to "utterly unhinged." Perhaps one of the biggest "signs" is that promotional materials for the film prominently feature a Scottish Fold cat in a backpack with a small circular window. Swift has three Scottish Fold cats — Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button, the last of whom appeared with her on her Time Person of the Year cover — and carries at least one of them in a similar backpack in her 2020 Netflix documentary "Miss Americana."

Other compelling factors include the fact that Swift's merchandise store includes an argyle sweater meant to complement her album "Red," that Conway's first ever Instagram post went live on December 13, 2022 (Swift's 33rd birthday), and that Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays Elly Conway in the film, has red hair. Why is that important? Speaking of "Red," when Swift released her re-recorded version of the album in November 2021, it came with her magnum opus: "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)," and a short film centered around the song soon followed. Swift plays an author at the very end of the film — which she wrote and directed — sporting red hair like Howard. 

Is this all sort of absurd? A little bit. Will that stop Swifties? Absolutely not.

The Taylor Swift-Elly Conway conspiracies spiraled so much that, at a certain point, "Argylle" director Matthew Vaughn felt compelled to say something. As he told Rolling Stone, his daughter was the first person to tell him about the theory and even she insisted that the book was "secretly" written by Swift. Vaughn said that no matter how much he protested, his daughter remained totally convinced.

"There is an Elly Conway who wrote the book, but it's not Taylor Swift," Vaughn told the outlet. "And I say that because I imagine Taylor Swift has a load of people trying to jump on her bandwagon left, right, and center, and I don't want to be a part of that club."

After denying that Swift is the real author of "Argylle," Vaughn did have to admit that Swifties did their homework when it comes to their hypotheses. "I did read the conspiracies and I was like, wow, they don't leave a stone unturned!" he remarked. "But it's not Taylor Swift. She definitely didn't write the book."

There's no question that Taylor Swift is an excellent storyteller, and Swifties know better than anyone that the star loves to plant clues and Easter eggs in plain sight to prepare fans for her next big project. Swifties are scholars and detectives when it comes to their "Fearless" queen, and they'll stop at nothing to prove that Swift is a true "Mastermind." So, what's the final word on Taylor Swift writing a novel under the name Elly Conway?

There likely won't be a final word unless Swift comments directly on this theory (and she may never do this at all), but it feels extraordinarily unlikely that Swift is writing books under a pen name, Scottish Fold cats notwithstanding. Swift is currently one of the busiest people on the planet. Beyond cheering for Travis Kelce from skyboxes at Kansas City Chiefs games, Swift is still in the middle of her world-spanning, record-smashing Eras Tour, which resumes in Tokyo on February 7. Instead of working on a manuscript, she's much more likely working on re-recordings of the two studio albums she doesn't yet own — "reputation" and her debut "Taylor Swift" — or her 11th original studio album, which will follow 2022's smash hit "Midnights." Swift also has a film deal with Searchlight Pictures, so if she has any side projects that aren't music, she's potentially working on her first full-length feature. 

Swift, by all logic, isn't Elly Conway, but Swifties will probably keep trying to prove that she is regardless. "Argylle" hits theaters on February 2, 2024.