In August 2017, Taylor made headlines for her sexual assault trial against an ex-DJ David Mueller, who she accused of groping her during a Denver meet-and-greet back in 2013. The singer eventually won the civil case and ordered David to pay her a symbolic amount of $1. Following her trial, Taylor kept her promise to donate to sexual assault victims when she gave an undisclosed but "generous" amount of money to fellow sexual activist and close friend Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation.
That same month, Taylor made her grand return to music with the announcement of her sixth album, Reputation. The album showed a much darker side of Taylor's music with songs about revenge and her infamous feuds and lots of snake imagery as she took back the narrative for being called a snake by Kim. During the time of the album's release, Taylor made sure to let her music do the talking as she refrained from doing interviews and made a handful of public appearances. She even proclaimed "the old Taylor was dead" in the lyrics for her lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do."