So by now, we’ve all heard of Taylor Swifts new songs and how they’re supposed to represent the metaphorical killing of her past personas. In their wake, we have the new no-fucks-given Swift who embraces the title. But even this new Swift isn’t immune to the drama that seems to constantly follow the pop star.
T-Swizzle is once again making headline news (and it isn’t because her album just released). No, this drama has much more serious implications.
The incident unfolded after blogger Meghan Herning wrote a blog post that is titled “Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation”. The post goes on to detail how the alt-right has latched onto Swift during her music career and have dubbed her a white supremacist icon of “purity”. It also dives into an analysis of the hit single “Look What You Made Me Do,” at one point comparing Swift to Hitler.
When Swift got wind of the article, she took immediate action and threatened to sue the author of the post. Swifts legal team sent a cease and desist and also falsely claimed that the blogger was required to keep the dispute a secret.
It’s fair to be upset when someone (falsely?) accuses you of racism, but some say that Swift’s immediate knee-jerk reaction of filing a lawsuit was a bit overboard. Especially since the website, PopFront, only has approximately 300 Twitter followers. One can assume that this article would never reach mainstream media if Swift hadn’t threatened to sue.
The drama is far from over, as the ACLU was quick to leap to the blogger’s defense, arguing that Swift was infringing on her First Amendment rights. In a public letter, the ACLU claimed Swifts actions are “a completely unsupported attempt to suppress constitutionally protected speech.”
With an approach of sue-first and ask-questions-later, these events speak to the pop stars inability to take criticism. This could be seen as a power move made by Swift, to cement her persona as a hard-hitting, no-fucks-given Star. But she’s making this move at the expense of a poor blogger that was only trying to bring racism to light.
It’s understandable that Swift is upset by someone publicly accusing her of racism, but is her response justified? Why not just make a statement denouncing the alt-right movement and distancing herself from white supremacy?
Swift’s new persona is responsible for her latest albums success, but it might also be the very thing that’ll bring an end to her reputation.
Climbing With Apples 
