Update: Refinery29 can confirm that the tattoo does not belong to Taylor Swift.
This story was originally posted December 21, 2018.
Back in 2012, Taylor Swift told Taste of Country that if she were to ever get a tattoo, "it would be a '13,' but I just... I don't want to get a tattoo." Six years later, that sentiment came into question when celebrity tattoo artist JonBoy posted a photo to Instagram of the back of a woman's neck with a brand-new rose tattoo.
JonBoy tagged Swift — and only Swift — in the photo and geotagged it to "Welcome To New York," in reference to her famous single. The tagging style matches the way he has announced other celebrity ink, including that of Hailey Baldwin and Kaia Gerber.
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In the photo, the blonde woman is wearing a gold chain necklace with a rose pendant that's nearly identical to the tattoo. But between the woman's hair color — a bright shade of platinum blonde with dark roots — and the necklace, many fans are debating whether the tattoo is actually Swift's at all.
Swift has a history of wearing jewelry that has some kind of significance, like when she wore a paper plane necklace (a nod to her relationship to Harry Styles) in the video for "Out of the Woods," and when she rocked a necklace with a "J" pendant (a shoutout to her boyfriend Joe Alwyn) in the video for "Delicate." But this necklace hasn't been spotted on her before.
Swift herself hasn't posted on Instagram for two days, but we're sure Swifties will crack the case soon. And unless Swift also got a major dye job, inherited some brand-new jewelry, and had a complete 180 on her thoughts about tattoos, we're guessing this is a joke — or a classic case of an Instagram mistag.
We've reached out to JonBoy and Swift's team and will update this story as soon as we hear back. This post has been updated from its original version.
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