Taylor Swift Video Director Defends 'Wildest Dreams' Amid Whitewashing Claims

The director of Taylor Swift's new music video is defending the singer after some claimed she whitewashed her video based in Africa.

Joseph Kahn said in a statement Wednesday (Sept. 2) that the video for "Wildest Dreams" includes black people and was produced by a black woman and edited by a black man.

Taylor Swift's 'Wildest Dreams' Video Accused of 'Channeling White Colonialism'

Kahn, who directed Swift's "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood," is Asian.

"Wildest Dreams" is set in 1950s Africa and portrays Swift as an actress who falls in love with her co-star on the set. Black actors are seen in some of the clips from a distance.

Kahn said: "We collectively decided it would have been historically inaccurate to load the crew with more black actors as the video would have been accused of rewriting history. This video is set in the past by a crew set in the present."