Manspreading, screaming & public urination: Taylor Swift plays a man who's The Man in video for 'The Man'

By Andrea Dresdale

Taylor Swift pulls double duty in her new video for "The Man": not only did she direct the clip, but also, she stars in it in disguise as, you guessed it, a man.

The man whom Swift plays is essentially the character Leonardo DiCaprio played in "Wolf of Wall Street," which is fitting, considering she name-checks the actor in the lyrics.

Bearded, dark-haired and wearing a suit, Swift as "The Man" treats her employees terribly, manspreads and smokes on the subway, has one-night stands, parties on a yacht with bikini girls, treats women like objects, throws a violent tantrum on a tennis court, and even relieves herself against a subway wall scrawled with the names of her albums.

Yet when "he" deigns to pick up a child in a park, he's hailed as "World's Greatest Dad."

Flash forward years and "The Man," now a decrepit old man, is shown marrying a much, much younger woman as everyone cheers."

At the end, in the middle of the tennis court tantrum, we hear Swift yell cut and "he" comes over to herself in the director's chair and asks, in a voice dubbed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "Hey, just checking. Was that last take more what you had in mind?"

Taylor Swift music video "The Man"

Taylor Swift speaks to herself dressed as a man in her new music video "The Man."

To which Swift replies, "Pretty good. Could you try to be sexier? Maybe more likeable this time?" To which "she" replies, "OK, no problem."

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Just sitting here pondering how happy I am that The Man music video is OUT. I want to say thank you to so many people- Gotta thank @therock for voicing The Man and for being so supportive of my music for years (and now my directorial debut!)- it’s so cool to have you be a part of this!! Thank you @jaydenbartels and @dominic_toliver for your amazing and hilarious reactions- and @loren your eye roll really was aStOnIsHiNg 🥰😘💗 My dad making his acting debut as ‘unimpressed umpire’ is a memory I’ll always cherish. Thank you to the entire cast and crew for helping me become the man I always knew I could be 😂

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Feb 27, 2020 at 6:01am PST

Swift, the director, then praises a female actor who had a non-speaking role in the same scene, telling her, "Excellent work over there ... that was astonishing."

Taylor Swift music video "The Man"

Taylor Swift before makeup and after for her new music video "The Man."

As the credits roll, we see a montage of images showing Swift transformed into "The Man."

The video was, as the credits note, "directed by Taylor Swift," "written by Taylor Swift," "owned by Taylor Swift" and "starring Taylor Swift."