Taylor Swift is not manipulative, she's smart, says director Joseph Kahn

Director was promoting his new film at the Toronto Film Festival when he was asked about working with the pop star

Taylor Swift in the video for 'Look What You Made Me Do' (Vevo/Taylor Swift/Big Machine Records)

Joseph Kahn has defended Taylor Swift while promoting his battle rap satire Bodied at the Toronto Film Festival.

The director, who created the video for Swift's single "Look What You Made Me Do", has spoken out several times in the pop star's defence after she received criticism for certain aspects of her new music.

"The biggest insult anyone throws at her is that she's manipulative," Kahn said to Variety.

"What does that mean? As an artist, because you know what clothes you want to wear, you know what edits you want to make, you know what the set-ups are, you know what the theme of every idea is, you know what your lyrics are. Is that manipulative, or is that just being smart?"

He added that Swift's forthcoming album reputation is "spectacular" and "a monster" of a record. "What she does is magical," he said.

The "LWYMMD" video was controversial due to its apparent references to feuds between Taylor Swift and other artists, including Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and Katy Perry.

At one point Swift is shown in a bath filled with diamonds, making a gun sign with her right hand. This has been interpreted by many fans to refer to the gunpoint robbery of Kim Kardashian in Paris, who was tied up and put in a bathtub by three armed men while she was on her own in a hotel room.

Beyonce fans also accused Swift of "copying" the visuals from her video for "Formation". Kahn, who has worked with Beyonce as well, denied this and said that the video was "not in the same art space" as Beyonce's work.

Swift's new album reputation is set for release on 10 November.

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