Taylor Swift’s Reaction To 'The Housemaid' Song Use Left Director Speechless

Taylor Swift’s reaction to one of her songs being featured in Sydney Sweeney’s latest film, "The Housemaid," has officially been revealed, and according to director Paul Feig, it wasn’t something he ever expected to happen. The 63-year-old filmmaker opened up about the surprising moment during a recent interview at the film’s Hollywood premiere. Feig, whose new project has already been praised as an “outrageously enjoyable thriller,” reflected on the high-stakes decision to include one of Taylor Swift’s biggest hits in the movie’s final moments.

At the conclusion of "The Housemaid," audiences hear Swift’s 2017 track “I Did Something Bad” playing over the end credits, a bold choice that Feig initially assumed wouldn’t make it past approval. “Well, that's the thing; you want to put a Taylor song in your movie, but she and her company have to approve it,” Feig told Deadline.

Feig went on to admit that he and the team behind the film weren’t confident the song would be cleared at all. “So, we were tempting with it, and we were like, ‘It's so perfect, but she's never gonna clear this.’ Then we showed she and her people the movie, and she approved it. So, I guess she likes it. Thank you, Taylor!’”

The director’s reaction made it clear just how significant Swift’s approval was, especially given how carefully the pop superstar oversees the use of her music.

Sydney Sweeney, who takes on a leading role in "The Housemaid," also spoke about the importance of Swift’s song appearing at the very end of the film.  “It's so perfect,” the Euphoria actress recently told PEOPLE.

Her co-star Amanda Seyfried added, “We saw it before it was fully confirmed.” Sweeney then explained just how strongly the cast felt about keeping the track in place. “And we were like, ‘We can't lose this!’ We were like, ‘You have to keep this!’”

Swift is no stranger to having her music featured in films. Over the years, her songs have appeared in major releases including "The Hunger Games," "Fifty Shades Darker," "Sing," and "Letters to Juliet," and while Swift’s music continues to be highly sought after for film soundtracks, its use has also recently pulled the superstar into unexpected legal drama.

As The Blast reported, Swift was briefly dragged into a lawsuit tied to "It Ends with Us" after her song “My Tears Ricochet” was featured in the film’s soundtrack. The situation escalated when Blake Lively filed suit against director Justin Baldoni, who later attempted to involve Swift in the legal dispute, despite her minimal connection to the project.

Swift’s spokesperson quickly shut down any suggestion of deeper involvement, making it clear her role ended with approving the song’s use. “Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see 'It Ends With Us' until weeks after its public release and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,” her rep said.

The spokesperson also criticized Baldoni’s legal strategy, stating that the subpoena filed by his team was “designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”

"The Housemaid" is already making its mark with audiences, delivering a solid opening weekend at the box office. The thriller debuted in 3,015 theaters, pulling in $8 million on Friday, followed by $5.8 million on Saturday and $5.1 million on Sunday. The film’s $19 million domestic opening lands it firmly at number 3 in its first week

In addition to Sweeney and Seyfried, the thriller also stars Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone, and Elizabeth Perkins. The film is based on the 2022 novel of the same name written by Freida McFadden.