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Taylor Swift didn't attend the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, but Swifties found something to talk about anyway.
Swift's close friend Emma Stone had a big night, winning best actress for her mesmeric performance as Bella Baxter in "Poor Things."
When Stone went onstage to accept the Oscar, she gave her 3-year-old daughter a sweet shoutout: "I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl."
Swift's fan accounts quickly began circulating the clip on X, though for casual onlookers, it may not be obvious why.
Dedicated Swifties will recognize Stone's phrase from Swift's most recent album "Midnights" — more specifically, the extended "3am Edition." The bonus track "Bigger Than the Whole Sky" is one of the only songs that Swift wrote by herself for the album.
"Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye / You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time," Swift sings in the chorus. "And I've got a lot to pine about / I've got a lot to live without."
The elegiac ballad drew acclaim from fans and critics alike, especially from those experiencing heartbreak or grief. In particular, the song was widely praised by women who have lost a pregnancy. "I miscarried in August; this song captures everything I felt, and still continue to feel sometimes," wrote one commenter on YouTube.
Swift never clarified the song's meaning, but she has drawn inspiration from a myriad of sources throughout her career — including fictional stories and real-life friends.
Last July, Swift released "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)," the rerecorded version of her third studio album. It featured six songs "from the vault" that were cut from the original 2010 tracklist, including "When Emma Falls In Love."
"Emma met a boy with eyes like a man / Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand," Swift sings. "Now he'll be her shelter when it rains / Little does he know, his whole world's about to change."
The song was written around the time that Swift and Stone met. They became fast friends — Swift even let Stone hear "Speak Now" before it came out — and remain close to this day.
Swift also threaded references to her friends through her 2020 album "Folklore." She sings about a trio of characters called Betty, Inez, and James, named after Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's three children.
Was Stone's shoutout to her daughter intended as an Easter egg for Swifties? Or was her use of the phrase a simple coincidence?
It's anyone's guess — but for the record, Stone seems like an unwilling participant in Swiftie discourse. Stone recently called herself a "dope" for teasing her friend of two decades (she jokingly called Swift an "asshole" for cheering for her at the Golden Globes) after she saw people misinterpret her words.
"I definitely won't make a joke like that again," she told Variety. "I saw headlines that really pulled it out of context."
