Swift's music video implies reference to Serena controversy

On Thursday morning, Taylor Swift released her new "The Man" music video, and one thing is certain: she’s taking it to the man.

The video shows many different scenarios of gender inequality and how successful women are judged and faced with more criticism than men.

But what does Swift have to do with tennis? The feminist theme follows a businessman through many scenarios that exhibit toxic masculinity: flicking ashes from his cigar into a woman's purse, man-spreading on a subway, and throwing a temper tantrum on a tennis court.

The man screams and throws a tennis ball at the chair umpire before falling to the ground and crying. The scene feels like a reference to Serena Williams' controversial 2018 US Open dispute with umpire Carlos Ramos.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion believed she was penalized unfairly by Ramos during the final against Naomi Osaka. The incident would spark arguments beyond the tennis world over the differences between how female and male athletes are treated.

After failing to hold serve, Serena would crack her racquet in anger, and would receive a point penalty. "You're a thief, you stole a point from me," Serena said.  The exchange would lead to a game penalty due to verbal abuse.

"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff," Serena said afterwards. "For me to say 'thief' and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief.' For me, it blows my mind. But I'm going to continue to fight for women."

Swift's songs are famous for being catchy, and carrying deeper, often subtle, messages, and this is her first time crossing into the tennis sphere

“The Man" video is also her first solo directing project.

And it turns out that Swift was literally the man, as the final shots in the video showcase her transformation into the lead businessman.

Swift hasn’t confirmed the scene is about Serena, but her message is still reading loud and clear.