Taylor Swift and Stephen Colbert made an adorable TikTok video together backstage at The Late Show ahead of the pop superstar’s late-night visit on Wednesday night (Dec. 10) — and the duo had the perfect song for their soundtrack.
The video begins with a close-up of Swift in a red lip and a fuzzy winter jacket vibing to the humming intro of her 2008 Fearless album cut “Hey Stephen.” When the camera pans out, we see that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert host is there too, and he even lip-syncs the first word of the song: “Yeah.” Swift then breaks her so-far straight face to give a big goofy smile and wave at the late-night host and mouth, “Hey, Stephen!”
The jangly country-pop song was never released as a single, but it did crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 94 the week Fearless debuted.
Back in 2021, during a virtual Swift appearance on The Late Show, Colbert jokingly grilled the singer/songwriter about whether he was the inspiration behind the unrequited-love song. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she quipped at the time, going on to joke that it was actually about author Stephen King. “He’s amazing,” Swift said. “The Dark Tower series changed my life. Plus The Shining, The Stand. And don’t even get me started on his short stories.”
In fact, Swift has previously confirmed that the titular love interest was Stephen Barker Liles from country duo Love and Theft, who opened for her in 2008, even spelling out the name of his group in the Fearless liner notes as further proof.
Swift returns to The Late Show for the first time since that 2021 appearance Wednesday night at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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