Argylle director Matthew Vaughn has emphatically debunked the online conspiracy theory suggesting that Taylor Swift wrote the book upon which the film is based. Vaughn, 52, learned of the rumors through his daughter, who had come across the speculation online. Swift's purported connection to the book arose from fans speculating that Elly Conway, the author, was a pseudonym for the pop star.
Vaughn shared with Rolling Stone, “I’m not a big internet guy, and it was actually my daughter who came up to me — this is the power of celebrity and the internet — and said, ‘You never told me Taylor wrote the book!’ And I’m looking at her going, ‘What are you talking about Taylor Swift wrote the book? She didn’t write the book!’"
The conspiracy theories included observations about the book's cover, featuring a Scottish Fold cat resembling Swift's pet Meredith Grey. However, Vaughn clarified, “There is a real book … and it’s a really good book. And there is an Elly Conway who wrote the book, but it’s not Taylor Swift. 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."
Despite the online speculation, Vaughn confirmed, "I did read the conspiracies and I was like, wow, they don’t leave a stone unturned! But it’s not Taylor Swift. She definitely didn’t write the book.”
The identity of Elly Conway has been a subject of curiosity, with an Instagram account linked to the author having no posts. The official biography on Penguin Random House's website mentions that Conway was born and raised in upstate New York and wrote the Argylle novel while working as a waitress in a late-night diner.
While the cat featured prominently in Argylle's marketing materials has a connection to Swift, Vaughn clarified that the cat, named Chip, was adopted by his family after his daughters saw Swift's cat in her 2020 documentary. Chip eventually made his way into the Argylle movie after the initially hired feline did not work out.
Vaughn humorously recalled, “I got home one day, it was Christmas, and I was like, ‘What the f--- is that noise?’ And I’m running around the house and I hear a noise, and the kids had seen a Taylor Swift documentary and there was a Scottish Fold in that. They’d persuaded my wife Claudia [Schiffer] to get them the kitten for Christmas. It was bought without my permission and hidden from me.”
