When it comes to pop star Taylor Swift, people either love her or hate her. People who feel the latter tend to use Swift’s personal life as the reason for their dislike. Gossip Cop was surprised to see just how many negative stories are printed in the tabloids about the “Look What You Made Me Do” singer, so we investigated to see why there’s so much animosity towards her.
One of the biggest factors that Swift’s detractors use against the singer are her various relationships over the years. Every romance Swift has had since her rise to fame has been meticulously documented by not only fans, but by the tabloids and in Swifts’ own discography as well. Many of the singer’s most famous exes make a reappearance in her life via her music.
Queen Of Break Up Songs
Joe Jonas, who allegedly broke up with Swift via a 27-second phone call, was famously immortalized in Swift’s songs “The Last Kiss,” “Forever and Always,” “Better Than Revenge,” and “Holy Ground.” Though he was one of Swift’s first famous exes, Jonas wasn’t the only one that made it into an album. Another singer, former One Direction member Harry Styles, was also written about by Swift in the song, “Style.”
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Even when she wasn’t singing about her former flames, Swift caught a lot of flak for her “many” romances. Swift has either dated or been linked to Calvin Harris, Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor Kennedy, Taylor Lautner, Tom Hiddleston, and John Mayer, among others. Some claim that Swift’s dating history proves that she either is bad at love and drives potential partners away, or that she uses the men she dates as inspiration for her music and nothing more. Neither opinion is very flattering.
People also note that the “Bad Blood” singer tends to have bad blood with other people in the entertainment industry. Case in point, Taylor Swift’s very public falling out with Katy Perry. The two songstresses allegedly fought because a pair of backup dancers quit working for Swift to join Perry’s tour. From that point on, the former friends turned worst enemies, especially after Swift released “Bad Blood,” which is widely believed to be about her frenemy Perry. Though the two ladies eventually put the past behind them and made up, the years-long feud still left a bad impression on quite a few people.
Kimye Versus Taylor Swift
Then there’s Swift’s relationship with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. After West infamously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMA, the two were a bit awkward around each other. Swift wound up forgiving West for the moment, however, and the two became somewhat unlikely friends sometime in 2015. Then West released “Famous.” Swift was mentioned in the song, but didn’t care for the way the rapper referred to her as the B word and posted as much on social media.
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Kardashian swiftly came to her husband’s defense, releasing a series of videos on Snapchat to prove that Swift spoke with West about the song before its release and had approved the controversial line in question. In that battle, Swift was declared the villain, since the videos made it seem as if Swift was totally fine with the line and only complained after it had been released. Snake emojis began popping up in the comments of many of Swift’s posts as a way to harass the singer.
A few months ago, a full, unedited version of the video Kardashian posted to Snapchat was leaked, revealing that Swift had been played a different, or perhaps unfinished, version of the song that didn’t feature the language she’d called out when she first objected to the song. The video also seemed to prove that West didn’t make the call to have Swift approve the song as had previously been claimed. Rather, he reached out to Swift to ask that she share the song on her social media pages.
Swift posted about the video on her Instagram story, revealing that its release left her feeling somewhat vindicated, but the singer quickly directed her fans to donate to the charity organization Feeding America. Even though Swift was probably attempting to direct fans’ attention to a charity, some still felt that it was insensitive for Swift to post about the leaked video, especially since the coronavirus pandemic was on the rise.
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Not every feud Swift has been involved in has been about business, however. Some of the public disagreements Swift has found herself in have been very personal in nature. After Swift and her ex Joe Jonas broke up, Jonas went on to date fellow Disney alum Demi Lovato. Around that same time, Swift started hanging around Selena Gomez, who was close to Lovato. Asked by a fan how Gomez was doing, Lovato shadily answered, “Ask Taylor!” Years later, Lovato seemed to reignite the feud over Swift’s seeming lack of response to Kesha suing her then-producer Dr. Luke on Twitter. A day later, Swift revealed that she’d donated towards Kesha’s legal costs.
Squad Goals Gone Wrong
For years, Taylor Swift ran with a group of girls referred to affectionately by Swift and her fans as the “Squad.” Karlie Kloss, Blake Lively, Emma Stone, and Lena Dunham have been counted as members of the “Squad,” though others, including supermodels Cara Delevingne and Gigi Hadid. There were some bad optics with the friend group, however. Though there were definitely fans who loved seeing Swift hang out with her close-knit group of friends, others found the group to be exclusionary. Others pointed out that many of the women who made it as part of the “Squad” were white women.
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Bizarrely enough, rumors began to emerge online that Swift was secretly a white supremacist. Some believe the rumors came from a racist blogger who believed that Swift was actually a fellow racist who would eventually publicly support their cause. An essay about the strange conspiracy theory appeared on Pop Front, which didn’t try to claim that the theory was correct, but did argue that the pop star didn’t do enough to disprove it, either. For much of her career, Swift specifically did not discuss politics or racial issues, though she’s occasionally been accused of profiteering from black art, like with her video and song “Shake It Off.”
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Taylor Swift’s Political Backlash
Swift’s politics, or lack thereof, have been a point of contention for people on either side of the political aisle. Many on the left believe that Swift’s past refusal to speak on political issues proved that she was not the ally she claimed to be. After President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Swift became more outspoken about her political beliefs, which has ruffled feathers on the right. Her recent statements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and her stance on controversial statues, many of which represent Confederate soldiers and others who were either racist or benefited from racism, did little to endear the singer to conservatives.
It’s difficult to blame one specific thing that made people dislike Taylor Swift. It’s not unusual for a young woman to date around before finding the person she wants to settle down with. And even if Swift never settled down with anyone, that’s more her concern than anyone else’s. As for Swift’s personal politics, it seems as if people are always offended by people they disagree with, so it follows that some would dislike Swift no matter what, just because of what she believes. Honestly, it feels as if most people dislike Swift because she is a confident, successful woman, but that’s just one person’s opinion.