"She definitely didn't write the book."
An ongoing and unsubstantiated rumor about Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn’s new movie Argylle would have you believe Taylor Swift wrote the book the film was based on under a pseudonym. There was never any good reason to believe this was true, and now we know it’s definitely false.
Vaughn himself confirmed to Rolling Stone (via Variety) that this is flat-out not true.
“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!'” Vaughn said. “And I’m looking at her going, ‘What are you talking about Taylor Swift wrote the book? She didn’t write the book!’ And I was laughing because I was like, ‘It’s not true! She didn’t write the book!’ But my daughter was convinced of it.”
He added: “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.”
In reality, the movie is based on the book Agent Argylle by Elly Conway. This is Conway’s first book, and the only information the world knows about her is that she wrote the book while working as a waitress at a diner. The book was only just published on January 9.
The story centers on a quiet author, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), whose spy novel basically comes to life and she gets thrust into a real-life dangerous adventure.
The movie does take some inspiration from Swift, however. The Scottish Fold cat that appears in the movie was put there after Vaughn’s daughters saw Swift’s own Scottish Fold in the Netflix documentary Miss Americana and their mother got them one as a gift. It is Vaughn’s own cat Chip that appears in the movie as Alfie.
Argylle also stars Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Ariana DeBose, Dua Lipa, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Sofia Boutella, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Following its debut on February 2, 2024, Argylle will become available to stream on Apple TV +. As for Vaughn, he is perhaps best known for the Kingsman series, but he also directed Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class.
Looking ahead, he’s lined up to direct a sci-fi movie called Courage. The Kingsman series will continue with Kingsman: The Blue Blood at some point in the future.