A joined photo of Taylor Swift and Laith Ashley

Music

‘Lavender Haze’ Actor Laith Ashley Says the Music Video Set Was Super Secretive — ‘[Taylor Swift Is] Very Protective of Her Art’

Laith Ashley, the actor who starred in the 'Lavender Haze' music video with Taylor Swift, thinks the singer is 'protective' of her music.

by Eryn Murphy

Published on February 1, 2023

2 min read

Laith Ashley thinks Taylor Swift is ‘protective’ of her music

As fans know, Swift cares a lot about her music. The singer-songwriter is in the process of re-recording and re-releasing her first six albums as a way to reclaim her music masters. She also has started writing and directing her own music videos to have more of a say in the creative process.

In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Ashley revealed that he did not know what song the music video was being set to.

“The less detail I knew, I think it was to protect her art,” said Ashley. “She’s very protective of her art and the way she releases her music and her visuals for her music. She doesn’t know me personally from a hole in the wall, so she doesn’t know if I’m going to go off blabbing about everything, so she does not share a d*** thing.”

While filming the “Lavender Haze” music video, Ashley did not have access to his phone, and only Swift could hear the music through an earpiece. Ashley did not hear the song for the first time until Swift released Midnights.

The Lavender Haze video is out now. There is lots of lavender. There is lots of haze. There is my incredible costar @laith_ashley who I absolutely adored working with.https://t.co/auFTSVBP0A pic.twitter.com/RXWPuKvkxK
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 27, 2023

Laith Ashley is a transgender model and singer

Part of the reason Ashley’s casting in the “Lavender Haze” music video is so special is that Ashley is a transgender man.

Ashley being cast in a music video as the love interest of one of the world’s biggest pop stars sets a monumental precedent and is a positive representation of the LGBTQ community.

“Having a trans person just being in love on screen, it’s humanizing trans people,” Ashley told Buzzfeed News. “We deserve to exist. We deserve to take up space in society. We will always exist regardless of anti-trans propaganda.”

What filming the ‘Lavender Haze’ music video was like

Speaking with Buzzfeed News, Ashley revealed that filming the “Lavender Haze” music video was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“In the bedroom scene, she’s telling me what thoughts are going through her head in the scene and for the most part, I’m literally sleeping,” Ashley said. “I definitely wasn’t. I was trying not to shake while I was in bed with Taylor Swift.”

The actor added, “If you notice in some parts of the video, I couldn’t stop smiling. I smiled to hide the fact that I was so nervous.”

Since starring in the music video, Ashley has been receiving countless messages and comments on social media.

“The notifications just kept coming in and I was so excited I didn’t want to put my phone on silent mode,” he told Buzzfeed News. “I was just scrolling and looking and reposting and all of the things, and trying to respond to as many messages as possible.”