Taylor Swift really doesn’t care if you think she’s cashing in on the queer community
Taylor Swift. (Efren Landaos/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Taylor Swift, in one of her most honest interviews yet, has candidly stated that she doesn’t care about the criticism she faces for “trying to do good things”.
When the singer dropped her track ‘Now You Need To Calm Down’ from her album Lover, it fractured the queer community in half.
The two camps weren’t debating whether the bouncy, synth-pop song was good or bad, but whether Swift, a straight woman, singing about LGBT+ themes made her a productive ally.
It was the former county singer’s first overtly political message in her music after years of silence – which she says was for mental health reasons in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Some dubbed her sudden interest as opportunistic, considering it was the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Others dubbed it an LGBT+ anthem and thanked Swift for platforming queer issues and talent.
Taylor Swift no longer cares about “baseless criticism”.
But in an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift indirectly suggested that the hounding she received for the song and for her increased activism is “baseless criticism” that she has to “toss out now”.
Chatting to Brian Hiatt, the senior writer asks Swift about her childhood. When her mother would struggle to discipline her, as Swift would often discipline herself.
“This idea of changing in the face of criticism and needing approval,” he said, “That seems to be a real driving force in your life.”
CARSON, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 01: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE) Taylor Swift performs onstage at 2019 iHeartRadio Wango Tango presented by The JUVÉDERM® Collection of Dermal Fillers at Dignity Health Sports Park on June 01, 2019 in Carson, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
“Yeah, that’s definitely very perceptive of you,” she replied.
“And the question posed to me is, if you kept trying to do good things, but everyone saw those things in a cynical way and assumed them to be done with bad motivation and bad intent, would you still do good things, even though nothing that you did was looked at as good?
“And the answer is, yes.
“Criticism that’s constructive is helpful to my character growth. Baseless criticism is stuff I’ve got to toss out now.”
Lover singer came extremely close to quitting music altogether.
The transparent interview touched on many areas of Swift’s career and some of the scandals she has been plunged into. For former flames to phone calls with Kanye West.
But what some fans might be the most thrown by in the eye-opening chat is that Swift said she once almost quit music altogether.
“I definitely thought about that a lot,” she said.
“I thought about how words are my only way of making sense of the world and expressing myself—and now any words I say or write are being twisted against me.
“People love a hate frenzy.”
