Taylor Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department leaks online

The internet has descended into a frenzy as Taylor Swift’s brand-new album has somehow leaked. Photos / Getty Images, @taylorswift

It seems mass hysteria is spreading among Swifties worldwide, and they can’t Shake It Off.

Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated album The Tortured Poets Department was leaked, according to news.com.au, with 17 songs popping up online a day before its scheduled release.

The pop icon’s 11th studio album, set to be released in New Zealand today at 4pm, has been causing a stir online for quite some time, with fans speculating whether the album will feature personal diss tracks and broken-hearted laments about her former boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, who she parted ways with in April last year.

However, amid the frenzy that has spread online after the album’s premature release, there is one song lyric in particular that is garnering quite a bit of attention — and it’s seemingly aimed at another big-name celeb.

You smoked and ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.

X, formerly Twitter, has blown up over the leak, with both “Taylor Swift” and “TTPD” trending worldwide. However, it’s the bizarre mention of Charlie Puth that has raised eyebrows on the social media platform.

Taylor Swift's new album appears to have leaked online before its release. Photo / Getty Images

“WE DECLARED CHARLIE PUTH SHOULD BE A BIGGER ARTIST”???? GIRL,” one questioned.

Another wrote, “out of everyone …. EVERYONE …. on god’s green earth …………………… charlie puth [sic].”

A third quipped, “trying count how many bars of chocolate I ate after getting high and thinking about Charlie Puth popularity to the general public.”

Another person begged, “someone pls tell me that Charlie Puth lyric is fake pls.”

What’s more, Charlie Puth was rumoured to have formerly dated Selena Gomez, one of Swift’s closest friends, adding more fuel to the fire online.

Considering the Blank Space singer’s extremely enthusiastic fanbase and global popularity, it’s fair to assume the Grammy winner would have put in place the best security measures to prevent the album’s leak, making the breach even more odd.

The snippets of the album were reportedly taken from a Google Drive link, reports Daily Mail.

However, the songs are unverified and Swift’s team have not yet commented on the breach.

Taylor Swift announced her new album at the Grammy Awards this year. Photo / Getty Images

Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammys while accepting her 13th Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

After beating Ed Sheeran, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, and Olivia Rodrigo in the category, Swift grinned as she gave her acceptance speech saying: “Okay, this is my 13th Grammy. Which is my lucky number. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that.

Revealing she had secretly been working on her 11th studio album, she said: “So I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19th. It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.

“I’m going to go and post the cover right now backstage. Thank you, I love you! Thank you!”

Moments later the cover art was posted to her Instagram account showing a black-and-white image of her reclining across pillows. The top half of her face and lower half of her legs are cut off in the low-contrast image.

She captioned the post: “All’s fair in love and poetry.”