Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Sexy Baby’ Line A ’30 Rock’ Reference?

In the early months of the pandemic, Taylor Swift watched a lot of movies she had never seen before. Being one of the world’s biggest pop stars takes up a lot of free time, y’know? “I started watching lots of films. We would watch a different movie every night. I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth before. One night I’d watch that, then I’d watch L.A. Confidential, then we’d watch Rear Window, then we’d watch Jane Eyre,” she said. Swift also watched 30 Rock, based on a lyric from her new album, Midnights.

In “Anti-Hero,” which Swift calls “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” she sings, “Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby / And I’m a monster on the hill.” The “sexy baby” line is jarring, but it’s most likely a reference to the season five episode of 30 Rock, “TGS Hates Women,” where Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) hires a female writer, Abby (Cristin Milioti), to join the TGS with Tracy Jordan staff. But Liz turns on Abby when she finds her to be an over-sexualized, stereotype of a woman, complete with pigtails and a “sexy baby” voice. “The whole ‘sexy baby’ thing isn’t an act,” Abby contends. “I am a very sexy baby.” (There’s also a “twist” in the extremely good episode that I won’t spoil.)

The nod to 30 Rock has not gone unnoticed:

Now where’s the duet with Jackie Jormp-Jomp, hm?