Just thinking about Taylor Swifty’s incessant cuddlefesting and ponies and sparkles and 12-year-old drama is enough to make me reach for a bottle of liquor. Can you imagine what it would be like to be around her 24-7? I would need a crack pipe, some blow and a baker’s dozen bottles of cheap vodka. Well, the people who are actually around Swifty 24-7 are a lot stronger than me. According to Life & Style’s Scene Queens, Swifty demands that all of her backup dancers on tour not only be drug-free, but alcohol-free too. Honestly, I don’t mind the idea of drug testing, but NO DRINKING?!? WTF?
Taylor Swift’s squeaky-clean image is not an act. How do we know? Because she’s even insistent that her backup dancers behave as well as she does!
At an audition for dancers in LA on March 30, Life & Style’s Scene Queens heard that hopefuls were told that Taylor’s Speak Now tour will be strictly sober and that everyone will have to submit to random drug-and-alcohol testing while on the tour.
“All the dancers auditioning looked clean-cut and girlie,” a spy tells the Scene Queens. “Everyone wanted to fit the role of Taylor’s good-girl image perfectly to get the job.”
Unlike some of her pop star peers, Taylor’s very careful to project the epitome of class.
“The second you put out a song and somebody likes it, you become a role model,” she’s said. “That’s just how it happens, so I’ve always been really mindful of that.”
We won’t be holding our breath for Taylor to trash hotel suites any time soon.
[From Life & Style]
Now imagine Miss Goody Two-Shoes being pissed on by John Mayer. Look, if her deal was really and truly all ponies and sparkles and cuddlefests, all the time, across all walks of life, maybe I would see the point of all this. But Swifty just wants things to “look” classy, not actually BE classy. She’s fine with sneaking off and getting laid, douche-style, by John Mayer, but she’s not okay with her backup dancers going out and having a drink after the show? Not everybody is as obsessed with coffee as you, Swifty!
Sidenote: I’ve been doing really well with not drinking lately, but I’m totally going to have a glass of wine tonight while watching Bones – I’m already looking forward to it! The past few months, I’ve been trying to get healthier because I was tired of my flab and I was tired of walking up hungover and wretched. And I have been feeling a lot better lately! I also switched from vodka cocktails to wine when I do drink. My point? It’s MY choice, SWIFTY. And I don’t think having a glass of wine a couple of times a week makes me any less “classy” than Taylor “The Mayer Douche Nailed Me And Dumped Me And I Wrote A Song About It” Swift.
Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.
Why does she always have 13 painted on her hand?
Because 13 is her lucky number
Good for you Kaiser. I am rocking a right smart hangover right now. On topic- is it wrong to hate a child? Because she makes me vomit.
13 is her favorite number. I like her. She seems nice. Plus, last year she spent 16 hours signing autographs and taking pics with anyone who wanted one at an arena.
“Why does she always have 13 painted on her hand?”
To remind everyone of her mental age.
Honestly don’t get the hate towards Taylor Swift. So she’s a goody goody. So she doesn’t have the greatest singing voice. I hate the way she whips her hair around on stage. Maybe she could use some styling updates. Big effing deal. I don’t get the hate. I’ll buy Taylor hook, line and sinker any day over the little starlets out there who flash their bits and sing about getting wasted in the club when they’re underage.
And there’s always this talk about how this is just image but behind the scenes she’s just as bad as the rest. Where does that conclusion come from? She’s never behaved in any way that would suggest she’s not genuine about being a goody goody. And what’s wrong with being a goody goody anyway?? I find Taylor Swift refreshing after Britney Spears convinced underage girls that their greatest power was their sexuality and we’ve had nothing but a whole parade of scantily dressed pop tarts.
“Why does she always have 13 painted on her hand?”
It’s the number of ex-boyfriends she has on speed dial…
What a fucking buzzkill. I honestly think that’s a bit much. Not drinking is a personal choice, and if her of age back up dancers (I had no idea you could dance to her music but whatever) want to drink, they should be allowed to so long as they are doing so responsibly and not showing up to work drunk or too hung over. I hate sanctimony. I really do. You’re not better than me because you dont drink.
HAHAHA damn. I like beer and I drink beer.
If she was anywhere near me, I would have 13 beers. That’s what the 13 would mean to me.
I would have to stay drunk to be a backup dancer for her.
@JD – In the “Valentine’s Day” movie she had the number painted on her hand because it was Taylor Lautner’s character’s number in the football team who was her on-screen (and off-screen, of course)love interest. I have no idea why she still has it now. Maybe those are a bit old photos.
@Atticus And there’s always this talk about how this is just image but behind the scenes she’s just as bad as the rest. Where does that conclusion come from?
Any girl that screwed around with John Mayer who proclaimed he likes to pee on people during sex isn’t a goody goody.
I think she has the right to do this it’s controlling and stuck up but dancing is a really strict profession and I have heard plenty of horror stories so I doubt the dancer’s mind taking a break from partying for a few months while to do a world tour.
I have to respect her to not sell her music through sex like other artists. But please, doesn’t she get tired of those prissy dressy outfits? Meh. Oh! We will be forever condemned to watch her date and then break up, as it is the “required research” for her upcoming album and the ones to follow. Where’s my glass of wine?
I think Taylor expects only those in her employment to conform to her work requirements while on the job. Someone call the equal opportunity employment people!!!!!
What a terrible thing to expect people who perform with you and who will influence your image as well as your success are expected to be sober and not ingest illegal drugs. What a prude you are Taylor. Yes Taylor, if anyone associated with your performance is busted for coke or pukes on stage, it could cost you millions in sales but shouldn’t you consider their pleasures as much as your success?
It’s very interesting that when one wants to improve one’s health, mental state, and physical appearance that they adapt more to Taylor’s lifestyle than move away from it.
And to me she’s not the least bit “refreshing.” there’s nothing refreshing about a 21 year old with the emotional capacity of a child. That’d actually sad. She’s just a different manifestation of the same thing. She’s a pop starlet who hasnt truly developed for whatever reason, she’s just on the opposite side of the spectrum. All those girls are lost, and she shouldn’t be praised because she’s lost trying to stay too young instead of trying to grow up too fast. Neither is healthy or applaudable behavior.
Well, it’s her tour so she can set the requirements and if people don’t like it they don’t have to apply. I kind of applaud her for it. And in fairness, she’s not the one to say she was trying to be ‘classy’ was she? Isn’t this some random source? She might be a total hypocrite, but it’s her tour and she’s the employer so it’s her call. Maybe she wants to avoid hung-over back-up dancers.
JD, it’s her lucky number. she paints them every night before every show for goodluck.
I don’t have a problem with that. they should be professional. heck professional players can’t drink too. its called DISCIPLINE people.
don’t audition if you don’t like. it’s that simple
Talking about drinking, right now i’m waiting for my sister to come from the store with a bottle of red wine and some chocolate cake. I guess in the US it’s morning, but in Romania it 7.40 p.m. 😀
@Sonia And in England its 6ish, and I am craving some chocolate cake.
Swifty is a piece of work…and I don’t mean that in a good way. I like to have red or white wines with my meals accordingly(like many others out there) What the hell is wrong with Miss Muffet-Fuckme-Innocent-Pants.
She may not sell sex to sell CDs but she has sex to make them
When Swifty STFU, then I’ll take a drink to that!
@TheMango Well, come over and we’ll share the cake. 🙂
LOL @ Johnny Depp’s Girl! Agreed… I’ll drink to that!
So what if she had a crush on John Mayer and they hooked up? Honest question – was there any reference that they had sex and he peed on her, ever? Or is that just the assumption given Mayer’s reputation – not hers? Who hasn’t had a crush on someone they shouldn’t have, who hasn’t had a thing for a “bad boy” and gotten burned? Big effing deal.
People seem think Taylor’s emotional growth is stunted because she’s not singing about sex and drugs and drinking and isn’t dressing like jailbait. Ever stop to think that maybe the 17, 18 year olds – in Miley Cyrus’ case the 15 and 16 year olds – who sing about such things and dress that way are way ahead of where they should be, and that has altered the point of reference for emotional maturity??
I fully believe she’s just as bad as the rest. There are loads of people who had a “good girl” image when they were her age that just did their dirty business on the down low. Look at Natalie Portman & Anne Hathaway. Both have said that they were doing the exact same thing that the girls in the tabloids were doing but they just did it out of the clubs. It’s not that hard to keep it all on lock down. John Mayer does not equal good girls.
I used to like her but I’m so tired of the “Puppies! Kittens! Unicorns! Sparkles!” crap. You’re 21 not 12. Act like an adult.
Like I said before @Atticus – simply because shes not a bad girl who’s trying to be too old doesn’t mean she’s got it figured out. Neither approach is good for a young woman trying to navigate the world and develop a good sense of self worth. Living on either extreme is dangerous, albeit in very different ways. You shouldnt praise someone for being underdeveloped because everyone else is trying so hard to overdevelop. Moderation is a good lifestyle. And there’s also a difference between having a zero tolerance fuck up policy and telling people they can’t drink ever. So a 25 year old dancer can’t go out for a glass of wine with friends because it might tarnish her image? I understand not wanting strung out and unreliable addict dancers. Hell, I understand drug testing. But no cocktails after work on your down time if your a grown adult with a responsible view on alcohol consumption? Sorry but to me that’s a really naive way to look at booze.
What a self-important little snot. What a way to show kids that you can either have too much fun or NO FUN AT ALL.
I bet she made the rule that none of her male back up dancers can have sex with any of her boyfriends either. Bitch.
Knowing John Mayer, I bet him made Taylor sing a song to his dong about how awesome it is.
@Atticus
I’m right with you.
Apparently, the “badest” thing about Taylor is that she’s too good. Please join me in praying that we soon see a picture of Taylor stumbling out of a dong-spa with a brick of cocaine in one hand, a fist full of used condoms in the other, and several pairs of speedos clinched in her teeth. Then we’ll all feel better about America (lol).
This site is about bitching at the celebs so making fun of Taylor’s goodness is one thing but slamming her for it is another.
By the way, where did Taylor tell anyone that they could never have a drink outside of work?
Rita – It’s the part where Swifty has all of her dancers tested for alcohol.
Is it okay to not like her because she kind of…can’t sing? Because that’s why I don’t like her. I’ve seen her perform live and the girl really can’t carry a tune. I get that she writes her own stuff and wants to be a good role model and all that happy horseshit but it would be a whole lot easier to swallow her schtick if she could actually DO the thing she gets paid to do.
Isn’t her audience mostly young teenage girls? My sister is 15 and loves taylor swift and I’m glad of all the pop stars she listens to that swift is who she would like to emulate the most. Obviously swift takes on the responsibility of being a role model to those that are younger since they are the ones listening to her music and going to her shows. Also, so what if she dated john mayer? That means she had sex with him and he peed on her? wtf? I’ve dated guys and not slept with them.
@kaiser
Thanks for your reply.
Submitting to drug and alcohol tests are required by every employer in the country, as well as the highway patrol. The tests are for soberity, not traces of alcohol and it does not state that the breathalizer test will be given by jackbooted thugs at 5:00 AM. Basically, the article implies that when one is working one is required to be clean and sober.
I’m really not that excited about all this but I have a few minutes. Kaiser, you do a good job in writing a thread that encourages a response so I thought I would respond. Love your work Kaiser.
@nikki The John Mayer thing confuses me, too, because I don’t think T Swift would sleep with him, but I also firmly believe that John Mayer wouldn’t mess around with a girl for very long if he thought he couldn’t fuck her.
This girl really needs to relax.
KJ, I think our disagreement (and it’s a polite one – I appreciate the discussion) lies in what one considers to be developed. At the age of 21, I have no problem with a young woman who sings about being in love, being burned by love, hoping for love, breaking someone else’s heart, etc.
Who has it figured out at that age anyway? Who ever has it figured out? There are always going to be differences between you and your peers, no matter what age. Some 21 year olds go out boozing all the time. Some 21 year olds don’t. Some 30 year olds are married with kids. Some are happily living the single life. It’s less about one set have it more figured out than the other, it’s just a matter of different strokes for different folks.
And if she doesn’t want her dancers drinking, that’s her call. Like RY said, if you don’t like it, don’t apply for the job.
@KJ- I completely agree, I don’t think Mayer would hang around for to long if he didn’t think there was a chance of getting with her. But even if she did sleep with him I would say from the song she supposedly wrote about him she regrets it and felt she was being played by him. So I still don’t think her dating john Mayer shows that secretly she’s not such a good girl.
her target audience and paycheck are girls under age… hence… she doesn’t want to screw that up. I think she is a very smart business woman. It has been said she is very controlling and in charge of everything. I’m sure there are a lot of dancers who don’t drink or do drugs because then they couldn’t do their jobs. Good for her to want people around her moving in the same direction as she is. If you don’t like the rules, work somewhere else.
My biggest question – backup dancers??? Really? Does she secretly have a disco album out that I don’t know about or something? I just don’t see the need with her music.
Also – was it ever confirmed that she and Mayer got together? I mean, she probably had a crush on him and *maybe* they made out, but do you guys see him doing *anything* with her ??
I have mixed feelings on this story. I get she has this image to uphold to be a “good role model” (which I actually buy. I really don’t think she’s out sluttin it up and doin lines off some random’s dong). I don’t see the problem with a dancer having a drink after a show. Maybe she is trying to prevent pictures surfacing of one of her dancers getting wasted on tour or something. I would imagine it would be tough to dance well being hung over, but I would hope that they would be smart enough to figure that out for themselves. But, then again, like a poster said, they don’t have to audition if they don’t like her terms.
I also don’t get all the hate on her because she’s a nice girl. It’s refreshing not to see a pop singer’s muffin as she is stumbling out of a club. She takes her role model responsibility very seriously. Good for her. I’m sure she could loosen up a little and have a drink or two, but I’m not going to bash her because she doesn’t. I’m sure she has fun playing with her Dress Up Barbies and glitter stickers just fine sober! ;o)
I share my birthday with Swifty — Dec. 13. Hence the 13. Also, we Sags tend to be dogmatic — hence the rules for not drinking. We’re also a tad superficial. No defense, I think Swifty is annoying, too.
And Kaiser, good for you on the drinking choice. I quit again recently for the same reasons.
I think it’s great/smart that she’s marketing a wholesome image to her target audience – I’d rather have my niece emulate Taylor’s persona over Miley’s.
I just don’t think she’s a very good singer/songwriter in general, which makes me suspect she’s famous because of her good girl image (in that she stands out from the typical pop star archetype). And the only thing more obnoxious than a do-gooder is a do-gooder-for-show.
Then again, having been forced to endure several of her songs, there’s the possibility she might just be that one dimensional.
maybe too many of them were showing up tired or hungover or late.
“The significance of the number 13 on my hand … I paint this on my hand before every show because 13 is my lucky number — for a lot of reasons,” she explained. “It’s really weird.”
Not only is it the day she was born on in December 1989, but over the years it has become so much more. “I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro,” she said. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.”
Some may chalk all of that up to coincidence, but Swift assures everyone that the number can only mean something fantastic will happen in her life. “Basically whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing.”
@Rita
I’m there with you. I completely agree.
who said that the dancers can’t drink outside work? geez, last thing you want to see on a concert is the dancers collapsing on stage because they are drunk.
and who said that dating Mayer will automatically make Taylor not a good girl??? jesus, I’ve dated some dbags in my lifetime and sorry that doesn’t mean I slept with them.
I feel sorry for swift, being slammed because she’s a good girl. look at the fucked up society we have. grow up people.
I’m so different than A, B, C popstar… marketing, marketing marketing.
I don’t think it is unreasonable to have a ‘no alcohol/drugs’ clause for those on her tour. On a tour you are technically working for a set amount of months.
Why does she have backup dancers? She’s a country singer. Also, what a jerk. Have you EVER heard of a rogue backup dancer?
More surprising that her back up dancers can’t drink is that she has back up dancers.
I can’t believe that people are in such a rage over drug/alcohol testing. Maybe I missed something but I thought cocaine was illegal. Nothing in the story says no drinking just testing. It probably means if somebody shows up looking drunk they can be tested. I didn’t know that not wanting staff to show up high or drunk is a bad thing. Also some of her dancers look underage so of course they shouldn’t be allowed to drink.
Based on the clips I’ve seen of her concerts, the dancers are not Britney Spears type dancers. It’s more like the dancing on “Glee”. It’s more like acting out some of her songs and moving around.
bhahahahahaha louise!!!!! sooooo shitty.
LOL She’s not being slammed for being a “good girl”(and she’s not one anyway). She’s slammed for being a severely emotionally immature, sanctimonious brat.
Like it’s been said, there are extremes, and just because she’s not at the one extreme of being drunk all of the time and flashing, doesn’t mean it’s okay for her to be at the other extreme of seeming like the mere mention of alcohol has her clutching her pearls.
I don’t have a problem with this policy for the people on Taylor’s tour. It’s a little stricter than most of the ones I’ve heard about but I understand why it’s there. If for no other reason than it gives tabloids no way of running those kinds of stories on tour debauchery.
However, @Atticus:
“People seem think Taylor’s emotional growth is stunted because she’s not singing about sex and drugs and drinking and isn’t dressing like jailbait.”
No. There’s talented singers who are well behaved and not really singing about sex/drugs/drinking and not dressing like jailbait whom I don’t consider emmotionally stunted. For example, Adele who is only 1 year older than Taylor, has gone through her share of heartbreak and writes about it, but has always been more worldly, in touch with her emotions and able to make them feel real, and mature.
I think Taylor’s emotional growth is stunted because of the disconnection from reality of the images she associates with love in her songs. I think her emotional growth is stunted because of how self centered her songs are. I think her emotional growth is stunted because she gets involved in showmances with the likes of Taylor Lautner and Jake Gyllenhaal for the sake of publicity and of course song material (in case you don’t think those were showmances, it’s disturbing that she would concoct some huge love story out of the Taylor Lautner experience that lasted only a few months). I think her emotional growth is stunted because her response to being criticized for being a bad singer is to write a song calling her critics “mean”.
It’s somewhat a personality trait for Taylor. She’s very business shrewd, she knows what works for her and her target market and she makes decisions accordingly. But it’s been at the price of emotional growth.
I have a very strange interpretation of her John Mayer episode. I don’t think they slept together. I think he allowed and encouraged her schoolgirl crush on him and then turned her down when she wanted a relationship. Dear John is her revenge for the rejection and her attempt to make him look worse than he really was in that one instance (he’s more than earned his reputation as a jerk in other instances).
I think that’s bullshit if they’re not allowed to drink the entire time they’re on tour. If she’s just saying that they need to not drink before and during shows, well that’s fair enough. I’m with Kaiser, I’d need a shitload of booze AND drugs to deal with little miss sunshine-comes-out-of-my-arse.
@flutters preach it sister! great post.
When she gets busted for pills or smack, we will all have a great laugh 😆
Why is she aiming for that mousey brown? She used to be a flattering shade of blonde.
Flutters, interesting points and very articulate. I still disagree. Looking at my journals from that age in my life, they weren’t a whole lot different. It was mostly about guys I liked and my varying degrees of stupid behavior around them, and in my case, how drunk I was the night before. It was pretty much where I should have been at that stage of my life. I don’t think Taylor Swift is emotionally stunted for writing songs about what she relates to – love, heartbreak, etc. Is she the most sophisticated singer/songwriter in the world? Heavens no. Are some of her peers more worldly? Sure. I’m 36. Most of my peers are into politics and the state of the nation and the state of the world. I’m into celebrity gossip blogs. Am I emotionally stunted? Probably, to a lot of them, I am. But it’s where my interests lie. So what.
Who really knows what went on between her and Taylor Lautner and Jake Gyllenhaal? Who’s to say she didn’t have genuine feelings for them and that it was for show? And even if they were showmances, pulling a PR stunt isn’t emotionally stunted. It happens at every age.
The song “Mean” I interpret to be a rallying song for those who feel bullied, not necessarily an indictment of her critics. When bullying was a big topic, many celebrities spoke out about it and many wrote songs about it (Katy Perry’s “Firework”, Pink’s “Raise Your Glass”, etc). I thought that Taylor’s song was another one of those. I don’t disagree it’s not as sophisticated as the others but her audience and its demographic can relate to it.
You guys SURE her rules aren’t a blatant attempt at ‘being a control freak’? I mean, not wanting drugs is reasonable.
But these people would be drinking on their offtime, not while they’re working & performing in the show. (I wouldn’t blame her firing someone who did that.)
But imposing her rules on their offtime habits is… I don’t know. It just comes off as being very controlling.
It’s official…I hate her
Great posts Atticus.
I thought it was going to be some boring old site, but I’m glad I visited. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.