Sometimes I want to sit down with Taylor Swift and try to talk some sense into her. She’s a smart woman – she’s savvy about business, she’s got some great PR instincts sometimes, and obviously, she’s laughing from her mountain of money. But she also makes some sh-tty decisions for her long-term survival as a pop star. I could have told her YEARS ago that she needed to drop the selective apolitical bullsh-t when it came to condemning neo-Nazis. Those neo-Nazis think Tay-Tay is one of them, like she’s their pure Aryan princess. Instead of doing the bare minimum and publicly condemning them, she instead tries to shut down bloggers who are critical of her for NOT saying anything. As you can imagine, it’s not like any of that sh-t is going away.
So, Taylor Swift launched her new app, The Swift Life. There are Taymojis (coughKimKardashiandiditfirstcough) and exclusive content and never-before-seen photos and videos of Taylor. Everything a snake fan could ever want, including an in-house social media network where snake fans can talk to each other about all things Swifty. Of course it derailed in about a day.
Less than 48 hours after launching, Taylor Swift’s new app has become plagued with Trump-loving trolls and homophobic comments. Swift launched her new app, The Swift Life, on Friday. The app gives fans access to a Swift-centric social network, exclusive video content, “Taymojis,” and a newsfeed of its own. Swift’s legion of devoted followers were elated. The app shot up the app store rankings and reached trending status on Monday.
One of its most popular features is the ability for Swift fans to talk with each other. Swift’s fan base is notorious for its level of dedication to the star and its rapid response to any perceived criticism online. Many fans have already banded together via a haphazard network of accounts dedicated to protecting Taylor. But it turned out many fans had less in common than they might have thought.
Discussion on The Swift Life quickly turned political and fans began debating politics and President Trump in the comments of several posts.
“Republicans and Trump supporters have just as much right to be here as everyone. There are people who voted for him or may vote Republican but didn’t vote for him. They may not agree with his beliefs but at least he supports our troops,” a fan named Britt posted over the weekend. Her post sparked a discussion in the comments where another user said, “I just don’t accept gays lesbians and bisexuals.”
“I felt like my husband who is in the military is safer under Trump’s leadership than Hillary’s as she’s done some things I don’t agree with when it comes to the safety of our troops… at the end of the day it came down to what I felt was best. There are people who voted for reasons other than Trump being a bigoted, sexist, homophobe,” Britt continued in another post that received widespread backlash in the comments.
As the controversial posts about Trump went viral on Twitter, other Trump-loving Taylor fans began tweeting in defense of their choice to support the president, citing free speech.
“I downloaded Tay’s app and before you start criticising me I’m a trump supporter,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “I don’t see why people talk politics in there???? Like helloooooo let’s talk about our fav. We should support Taylor and I’m so disappointed she didn’t have one million downloads a minute.”
Other foreign fans blamed Americans for “ruining the app” and “distracting from Taylor.” Some fans also began claiming that political posts were being deleted by an unseen moderator.
Who would have ever thought that in the VENN diagram of Trump supporters, neo-Nazis, homophobes and Taylor Swift fans, there would be so much overlap? Oh right. This is what happens when a pop star doesn’t SHUT IT DOWN when neo-Nazis praise her. This is what happens when a pop star doesn’t make it clear that she’s not okay with white supremacy, Deplorables, bigotry and more.
so apparently whilst i was asleep the swift life turned into a hot ass mess for republicans and homophobes to vent on…The pic.twitter.com/HSwHrgCz5r
— rachel loves taylor (@tswiftsgomez) December 16, 2017
Photos courtesy of Taylor’s Instagram.
The alt right thrown off Twitter has found its new home.
So she’s now somehow responsible for what others post on social media? Good lord she’s powerful!!
I imagine most people who use the app are like 15-16 or something.
She is responsible for letting them think she open to it. It is her app.
What? Is Facebook responsible for what people post ? Is Twitter ? Nope…
Trolls will find a place to troll anywhere.
Lucy: On her app? Yes, she is.
No but she had created an environment and attitude that allows people to feel they can say what they want without consequences. Since this is a social media outlet that is literally all about her, you would think she would have exerted some control over what is being said on it. Then again, her persistence in not condemning neo-Nazis should have told us that she really doesn’t care.
@Lucy Yes she is on her app.
Just like Celebitcy is responsible for what people post on here. They have guidelines on what is and isn’t acceptable on this blog and its up to them hold the people on this site accountable.
You actually think she runs the app? I doubt she even looks at it that often .
I didn’t know she can control what people say now ! Such power she has over people. Seriously this is a non issue , I mean some troll was trolling?
Lucy, the platforms like Facebook and Twitter are being held accountable. Being called on to testify in front of Congress, being sued. It’s her app, and therefore she legally is liable for the content disseminated on it.
@Lucy
She had no problem going to the higher-ups at Instagram because people were posting snack emoji and also has no problem going after blog writer because she didn’t like what they said about her.
Now your trying to say she’s incapable of putting a stop to the neo-nazis on her own app? 🤣😂😃😅😅 she can’t control what is being said outside her app even though she tried, but she can control what’s being posted on her app and you’re delusional if you think otherwise.
@Lucy
Facebook and twitter are responsible for allowing and disseminating fake news and allowing fake Russian accounts to profit from running white supremacist ads and other OTT propaganda to users. Facebook was the main way people where exposed to “fake news” and Alt-right propaganda. Not the established forms of media like reputable news papers and national TV news. The one exception: Fox News, leader of negligently biased news.
@Lucy we get it, you’re currently residing deep within Taylor Swifts non-existent bum.
*snort*
Yeah. And they won’t get thrown off here. 🐍
And how much does “Brit” perfectly encapsulate white privledge and conservative politics in general? “I know trump is a horrible guy who hates the gays, hates the blacks, hates the women, and is a bigoted jerk who’s hell bent on ruining as many lives as possible BUT I FEEL BETTER BECAUSE MY HUSBAND MIGHT BE SAFER.” How perfect is this as an example of the white women as deplorables problem? “I know it’s wrong, but it helps me personally” and sometimes even “I know it’s wrong and it might hurt me personally but at least it helps my white male husband!”
Maybe she will finally say something now that it’s affecting her bottom line. Anyway she’s getting what she deserves right now. She can’t bring herself to tell nazis she’s not their girl, there are consequences to that.
You know, Tay, there’s a special place in hell for humans who don’t support other humans. That means not calling out the Nazis who buy your albuns and app.
I could accept that Taylor don’t wanna share her political views, it’s her choice. But Nazism and white supremacy AREN’T political views, it’s a sign of lack of humanity, stupidity and entitlement, so anyone, as a human being, has to call it out. By not calling it out, you are alligning with them.
And all this “I’m better than Kim cause I didn’t made a sex tape” is very stupid when a) it’s body shaming b)KK positioned herself politically in many subjects, including the Armenian Genocide b)
you are stealing the emojis.
Exactly. It only makes it seem like she is inviting them with her silence.
“Nazism and white supremacy AREN’T political views, it’s a sign of lack of humanity, stupidity and entitlement…” Exactly. Let’s not legitimize those defects.
As for Taylor Swift vs. Kim K, any defense of one woman that relies on a “Woman A is superior to Woman B because of sexual things Woman A hasn’t done with her body. She’s in mint condition!” statement is antifeminist from the start. Kim has been problematic though when it comes to cultural appropriation.
Excellent comment on speaking out against Nazism and white supremacy. Couldn’t agree more.
Difficult for me to put down Taylor by propping up Kim K. Both are problematic. Kim is as far away from political, feminist, global, etc, issues as can be. She’s only ever about herself and how much $ she can get out of pop culture exploiting herself, just like Swift.
She’s currently furiously trying to calculate who’s funding her bottom line before shutting down alt-righters or demanding free speech. It’s like a big ole’ nazi centric focus group.
Who is to say she’s NOT a white supremacist…
She’s pretty damn white.
Gosh who could’ve seen THIS coming? It’s almost like because she couldn’t do the BARE MINIMUM and denounce Nazis that they took it as a green light. This is why I’ll never F with her…she’s full of crap.
Princess Aryan Taylor “the Snake” Swift. Fitting.
I couldn’t make it past the fact that a married woman downloaded the app. @-@
@EnoughAlready: 😂
To be fair – the Dugger kids are married young. Having a husband (or wife) really doesn’t speak on intelligence or maturity in any way.
Marriage doesn’t make you smart, nice, or mature. I find this whole thing hilarious Too!
Her fanbase hasn’t really had it’s own voice front and center like this. It’s been swift and then her fans acting in her defense towards something direct and specific. Here… They can let their snake flag fly. And it’s exactly as we thought.
I know plenty of deeply immature married people. You’d think someone who has made such a commitment as marriage would be a grown up in other aspects of their life, but it doesn’t work like that. All you have to be to get married is a legal adult, sober in the moment, and have enough money to file the marriage license.
Anyone else curious about which flavor Kool Aid Britt served at the wedding? 🙋🏻
This new hair, I can’t help but think, “Stevie Nicks did it first and best.”
Whenever I see a picture of TS lately, I feel the urge to dig out my MASH DVDs — the last few years, when they stopped even trying to make Major Houlihan’s hair look plausible for the time & place.
What? I’m married and downloaded it? What is the issue there?
@enough already, hahahaha. Then again, that married woman was a republican so it made sense after all.
As for Taylor, she absolutely has a responsibility to say something against the alt right if she doesn’t support it. And she says nothing. To me, that says everything.
“that married woman was a republican so it made sense after all.”
hahahah
I mean I don’t really think this is her fault. But she should definitely get some better moderators for the app.
Maybe she doesn’t shut it down because she is a deplorable herself?
I mean honestly …
No, really. At this point, it’s a fair assertion imo.
I’m starting to wonder the same. We all just assume she isn’t saying anything because she’s spineless, but maybe she just genuinely supports Dear Leader and his cult members.
I’m starting to think that a significant number of her fans are right-wingers as well.
Ugh. I can’t call myself a fan – for example I wouldn’t go to a concert – but I going to have to rethink ownership of her two cds. I am not a Nazi, full stop, nor am I supportive of their political beliefs, full stop.
As much as I am loath to say this, I think a large part of that is because so many of her fans were fans because she was a country music star. I don’t want to say that country music fans are right wingers in general, because I don’t think that’s true, but I do think she is much more familiar with that crowd than we like to think she is.
Yes it might be so. Similar to @A comment. The right wing has culturally co-opted Country music and Nashville. Imo most everything that has any sort of commercial value coming out of Nashville or is “Country music” label is pretty damn white-washed, aka Taylor. So yeah, conservatives and right-wingers make it a point to reject modern pop culture, “devil” music and “black” rap music, and in response claim cultural ownership white American country music
What I’ve been saying all along.
I’ve honestly believed that for years now
Her imaging is getting perilously close to Aryan goddess from the German 1930s, too. From my trusted historical source, Wikipedia:
“In line with Nazi racial theory, the Nazi government promoted the “Aryan” (Nordic) archetype as the ideal physical appearance: women were to be blonde, beautiful, tall, thin and robust all at once.”
Pincurls and Marcel waves — more throwbacks. Is she purposely playing with this fire?
Yes, I think she is. Dog whistling through hair/make up. She is a deplorable enabler if not a deplorable herself.
I agree. There is a look in these photos that is like something Leni Reifenstahl would have styled if she had photographed Swift. Of course, it looks also like Marlene Dietrich styling, but she was, like Riefenstahl, a Berliner who was considered the German female ideal even by Hitler. Dietrich spoke out loudly against the Nazis. Swift has let this go on too long.
You know I am fed up. I can’t take it with Tay’s silent signals or anyone who defends her. I know what I am looking at and I know I am not some crazed Zionist nutjob who sees images of Hitler in strange and varied inanimate objects.
The whole look and the timing and her father’s political right wing ranting is too much to forgive or brush aside as nothing.
Leni R is an excellent reference.
To preface this, I don’t give two $hits about TS one way or the other. That said, from what I’ve seen, she’s always been blonde and blue-eyed. That can’t be changed unless she’s shamed into dying her hair dark and wearing dark contacts. But she can’t really change the fact that she’s got a tall, lanky frame. Also, most celebs sooner or later try the pin-curls/Marcel wave look. (I did a google image search where even Beyonce and Rihanna showed up.)
I guess I just don’t see how her looks automatically “confirm” the other stuff. If we had a different political climate right now, and she had this same look, would people still be saying she’s purposefully trying to look like an Aryan goddess?
I said it before. I am tall, with light blonde hair and look like the poster girl for Norway as are other people whose image in public circulation and yet she is the only one Breitbart fawns over.
If she publicly rejected and denounced them, then her looks would not matter. It is more than that.
If she doesn’t shut this down then she will have confirmed herself as a Trump loving deplorable who will benefit greatly from the new tax plan where she gets tax cuts for the private jet.
Laughing my ass off. Schadenfreude. Could not have happened to a better person.
If you’re so self-obsessed that you need to launch an app that’s completely dedicated to YOU and how amazing you are, yet you’re not self aware enough to f*king say “Nazis are bad” (for God’s sake), you deserve this. Full stop. Lmao.
There’s no way for her to get around this one quietly. It’s completely in her face now, so if she continues to say nothing at this point I’m comfortable calling her a Nazi sympathizer. *shrugs*
Yeah, maybe I’m not in tune with her or her fanbase enough but I am kinda floored that she thought this app was a good idea. She needs to shut the trolls down quickly, or just scrap the whole thing.
So will this lead her to finally say something?
Personally I do not care. Its way too late, she picked her side long ago.
If she continues to “ignore” this, I’ll simply assume she’s an alt-right fascist and treat her as such. No responsible adult would ignore this. She’s not a child, she knows what she’s doing and this will invariably blow up in her face as it should.
Dolla’ signs, Dolla’ signs, All I see is Dolla signs
She won’t say anything because all she cares about is money. Neo-nazis, deplorables, it don’t matter. As long as they pay.
People keep looking for reasons why Taylor doesn’t publicly condemn neo nazis instead of accepting the simpler explanation that has been in front of us the whole time. Maybe their support doesn’t bother her that much.
Exactly. Or maybe she agrees with them.
Actually what I’ve said all along. If you don’t condemn something so obviously evil, then you are condoning it.
This again and again. Silence chooses the side of the oppressor, every damn time. It’s a little nice to see her intentional silence come back to bite her in the ass like this. These are the natural consequences of her deliberate pussyfooting.
BINGO!!
i’ve thought about this as well, but the people she accompanies herself with are far from being neo-nazis. i think she’s both privileged and stubborn and refuses to budge in her no-politics position.
Yep no lies detected
I seriously cannot believe people are expecting her to be bothered when it was clear she was actually flattered to be called “aryan princess”, just look at the alias she got for that collaboration song with her ex! The poor woman really believes she is of Nordic descent.
I consider her an alt righter. Breitbart never did what they did for anyone else and her music doesn’t fit that demographic at all. Too many coincidences to ignore.
Money talks.
Good God her Reputation styling phase is horrific.
Somebody at Vogue is not a fan.
so fugly
Her parents and managers are smart business people. I have said it before and I will say it again, she has a core of talented people behind her. She has barely minimum talent and her parents paid good money to make sure she has the ‘look’ of someone with extreme talent and smarts.
Yeah, agreed. She was pulled out of high school to sing, its pretty obvious it’s her team, not her.
Also, a friend of mine used to work at the studio with her (and Faith Hill) and I always love to hear stories about them.
This. She doesn’t deserve savvy pr credit. Her team does.
They shut down interviews. Blogs. Unflattering photos or narratives. They control her image. She just shows up. And her team works really hard to make it appear like they’re not there.
And her Daddy and Mommy are Trump supporters. Few month ago her Daddy was sreaming on his FB HOW GREAT TRUMP is. She isn’t clever – her team is. Just look at her when she speak. She is mentaly 16 yo. She is some rich, mean girl and PR team made her into some inteligent feninist bussineswomen.
@not a real think, for real? Like, if that’s true, then that’s horrifying.
I don’t agree with my parents on a number of different things, and I’m never afraid to say as much. The fact that she hasn’t spoken out until now is so much more troubling.
Plus she had parents who thought their little princess was some sort of musical genius so that daddy bought her a record company (when no one else would sign her). She is the poster child for white, wealthy privilege.
Mommy and Daddy paid for her career she didn’t earn it and I think that is part of why she creates feud’s with other artists, they have industry respect which they earned, she does not (Kim’s receipts showed that as no-one in the industry defended her) – on some level she will know that her career was bought.
LOL That’s what you get for not denouncing Nazis. If she remains silent then it is fair to assume she is one of them. End of.
Everyone who’s not a deplorable or a nazi should delete the app. That will get her attention ASAP.
I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, that I really kind of doubt she is a Trump supporter, and it’s not her fault these idiots decided she was their poster girl for whatever reason. BUT, it’d be really wise of her to shut it down. I’ve noticed she’s been performing lately with WOC, and maybe that’s her subtle way of trying to without being “controversial” – but it’s not working and at this point it’s just annoying that she won’t say, straight up, that she’s not a Nazi and/or Trump supporter. She doesn’t have to endorse candidates or campaign for anyone, she can go right back to being quiet and apolitical or whatever, but this is pretty important. I do enjoy some of her songs, but this makes it hard for me to do so anymore. I get that she’s all about that money, but she’d probably actually GAIN fans and, as for the ones she may lose – do you want their money?! Like that saying, “Lie down with dogs & you’re gonna get fleas” it’s like, even if you didn’t intentionally lie down with dogs and the dogs wrestled you into bed with them but you didn’t get up & leave, you’re still going to get fleas girl.
Performing with WoC just comes off calculating to me. They’re props to her image.
I’ll say this. Forget her family. Her fan base. All factors out there that connect her to being a Trump fan or racist. Wipe the board clean.
If someone calls me a neo Nazi. If nazis try praising me. I’m doing 2 things. 1. Taking a look at myself to see why they would think that. And 2. Denouncing that outright in plain terms. I’m also not a Nazi so… maybe that’s why she hasn’t.
I’ll not side eye, but straight glare at her for not doing this. Her people with her approval will attack anyone that makes her connection to nazis apparent or bad in narrative. Where are her people trying to silence and shut down the actual nazis praising her?
It is purely to quell the rumors like we are idiots.
Those WOC have been with Taylor since 2013 the Red cb…this is not new.
“I’m not racist! Look at my black friend!!!!!” -Taylor Swift (probably)
I really don’t know what’s going on with her. On one hand, I can see her not wanting to alienate ANY of her fans because that means less money for her and a neo-nazi’s dollar is still a dollar. Buuuuut in the long run I think it’s going to hurt her more than it helps her because most people hate neo-nazis and don’t want to be associated with them in any way. Which is exactly what’s developing now. Before, I kinda understood her not saying anything, like “I’m not even going to dignify this nonsense with a response”. It’s at a turning point now, though. If she remains quiet, she’s going to look complicit and like she doesn’t mind neo-nazis so much and maybe possibly agrees with them.
What’s actually surprising me is that she doesn’t have stronger moderators in her app. She’s a notorious control freak, and yet her self-branded app, where the user generated content reflects on her, seems to be a free for all.
This. 100 percent. Perfectly stated, Wren!
“I’ve noticed she’s been performing lately with WOC, and maybe that’s her subtle way of trying to without being “controversial”’ – Oh my! I don’t want to live on a planet where denouncing Nazis might just be “controversial” As stated upthread; it isn’t political, it’s human.
Hahahahahahahahhaha!
Taylor will never condemn these people. Why? Because they are a huge part of her fanbase and because she actually agrees with them.
tbf trump supporters and nazis are literally everywhere on the internet, reddit is packed full as well. like i agree with the criticism of taylor not denouncing white supremacists, but it’s not just her app being full of these people.
What’s shocking to me here is that there aren’t stronger controls over the app. People seem to be able to post whatever they want, which is not reflecting well on her, and she hates nothing more than not being in control over her own narrative. There is no freaking way that she and nobody on her team would not know what happens when you give people on the internet an unmoderated forum.
I am not a big fan of her anyway, but all the marketing around this album has been so moneygrabbing. Yes, you have devoted fans, but is it really fair to have them have to pay for any kind of access, be it to your former social media postings or for concert tickets?
That’s what marketing is for.
She made photo in her brand hoodie. Now her minions can buy this hoodies in her store for 500$. Her ticket system made them to pay 500-1500 $ for a ticket. Her fans are idiots and she is milking them from money like crazy. But now when her fans bought ticktes and GP have access – she can’t sell even one show 🙂 🙂 GP don’t care about her music. She survive this era bcs of her hardcore fans, so she will do enything to save them. And this neo-nazi sh*t is an example.
LOL there is no 500 dollar hoodie in her store and I got great tickets to her show for 200 but you could buy tickets for 50 in three presale also .
So try again to find something to hate her for?
I don’t know about now, but I almost went to one of her shows two years ago, and they had tickets for $75. No clue what’s in her store, but I find this kind of hard to believe. So much haterade on here for her and her fans and I don’t really get it. She probably does have some alt-right fans – they listen to music, too, I guess. But plenty of her fans aren’t even close to alt-right (one of my friends is big into her music, that’s why I almost went to that show) and she is about as liberal as one can get. So am I, and I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan, but I like some of her stuff.
She is grifting her fans and shamelessly exploiting their devotion. She has a lot in common with 45’s daughter.
Nope…
I brought nothing aside from two albums and was in the first time slot on the first day for the presale.
You are not her only fan.
I’m not surprised that something like this happened on the app since a big chunk of her fanbase probably supported Trump and she is so apolitical.
I used to be part of a brand run facebook group for a small clothing brand. They had a keep it light policy, so no politics, no bashing any religions, no controversial parenting topics (vaccines, circumcision etc), no bashing reality stars etc. The company and it’s customer service went downhill and the group got ridiculous, so a new offshoot group was formed that was not brand owned and had no restrictions on topics. The ladies who I knew were Trumpsters revealed themselves quick lol. We had a lot of women from Puerto Rico in the group vent about their situation and Trump and some other women venting about Trump and his administration (me included). Meanwhile most of us scrolled past posts where they talked about the evidence to prove Pizzagate, that Hillary killed six people and that the Obama children were not biologically Barack’s. Well after someone made a negative comment about Trump after the Las Vegas massacre, all hell broke loose. One of the posters involved in those conspiracy posts made a long post about why it was ok for some members to talk negatively about our president. There were woman like Britt in the Taylor app saying their lives have improved since Trump became president, they have every right to be in the group, they weren’t racist, someone brought their medically fragile child into it saying when her daughter would eventually need hospice she would now be able to pay for it because of legislation from Trump.
This is what happens in the age of Trump when there’s no hard line drawn to begin with. Politics never really were brought up in the group again after that.
I said it once and I’ll say it again. Maybe she’s not saying anything because her or someone in her family (or team?) supports Trump.
Her Dad is a stron Trump supporter and is proud of it.
It’s a shame, this app is actually alot of fun. It’s far easier to work your way up then other celebrity apps. Which makes me think Swift put alot of thought in making it accessible to her fans. I know other apps it takes you forever to make gains and level up, and usually you have to spend money but this app I think you only have to spend money if you really want too.
She doesn’t give a FUH about any of this. Like some posters have said she will do and say something when it affects her big pile of millions. Speaking out against hatred is not political. She knows a huge part of her base are Trumpers and alt-righters. When the Dixie Chicks spoke out about Bush they were pretty much screwed. But I REALLY DOUBT that Taylor would be affected this way. She is just thinking about $$$$$.
Taylor Swift should stop doing that w her hair.
People on here give Carrie Underwood a lot of sh*t, but I have nothing but respect for her for standing up for the LBGT community. Telling her homophobic fans where the door is and that she was not her for here homophobic BS.
While Carrie was afraid that her views would alienate some of her fan she thought standing up for something she believes was more important. I can’t say the same for Taylor because ether she shares their views or the $$$$$ on is more important. Then to distance her self from their, hateful, toxic and dangerous views.
I’m concerned that she loves Olivia Benson more than Meredith Grey. It seems like she is always featuring Olivia front-and-center in her IG photos with Mer taking a back seat. Does she not know that senior/resident kitties need more attention, love, and validation than newcomers like Liv?
At this point, we’ve got to look at the sum of her behaviour. I’m not going to hold her personally responsible for the app fiasco, BUT, it is a great insight into who her fanbase actually is and why she continues to be so silent about so many of these political issues lol.
Also, I’ve been thinking, and the extremely troubling thing about her sending that C&D to that blogger is the sheer defensiveness of her action. White people are like that. They do that. They’ll spew any and every sort of vile racist sh-t, but the moment you use the word “racist” they’ll clutch their pearls and shriek their head off about how offensive it is to refer to them as such and how DARE you and how they’ve never been racist a day in their life and it’s all because they had one black friend in a different astral plane than this one. Then, ten seconds later, they’re back to posting about how Trump is fantastic and doing such a great job on FB.
If Swifty does come out and make a statement about this, it’ll either be in favour of the Trumpsters, or some empty statement abt how the app is supposed to be “inclusive to all people.”
I don’t care if she isn’t political publicly. Her choice.
BUT the neo-nazi/alt-right adoration, calling her their Aryan princess, is entirely different as far as not blasting that right away. and shutting them down. I don’t get her silence. It’s baffling.
Give me my Depeche Mode any day when embraced by the alt-right and Richard Spencer. I think Spencer called them the official band of the alt-right movement. And, by the way, they had just put out a political album blasting the state of the world. Brexit, and the U.S. with Trump going into office. So it really puzzled them.
When reached for comment, a rep for the band told Rolling Stone, “Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer or the Alt-Right and does not support the Alt-Right movement.”
in another interview about it:
Q. So should we start with the Richard Spencer question to kind of get it out of the way? Obviously he doesn’t speak for you guys, but I am curious — is it something that happens to Depeche Mode a lot over the years, where you find both your music and your message misinterpreted or taken out of context and used for purposes you couldn’t even imagine?
Dave Gahan: Yeah. I mean, this guy gets way too much publicity already. What’s dangerous about someone like Richard Spencer is, first of all, he’s a c–t — and he’s a very educated c–t, and that’s the scariest kind of all. I think over the years there’s been a number of times when things of ours have been misinterpreted — either our imagery, or something where people are not quite reading between the lines.
If anything, there’s a way more sort of socialist — working class, if you like — industrial-sounding aesthetic to what we do. That’s where we come from. We come from the council estates of Essex, which is a really s—ty place, just 30 minutes east of London, where they stuck everybody when London was getting too overpopulated in the late ’60s. So I don’t quite get what he was saying.
I think it was one of those things he threw out there for whatever. But he’s not that type of guy — not like the other guy, the Milo [Yiannopoulos], an attention seeker, a bit crazy obviously. I saw Milo on Bill Maher and I was just like, “Wow, he really is a nut job.” Those people to me aren’t so dangerous, but this guy’s [Spencer] got some weight behind him. I don’t like that, and certainly he had absolutely no right to… [Pauses.] well, he has every right. He lives in a free country, and he can say what he likes. But at the same time, it was a bit disturbing. I haven’t had as many phone calls or texts from people over something like that — friends here and in the city (New York City), and other artists who were kind of shocked and like, “What’s this?”
Q. When you see something like that happen, are you scared, “Oh my god, people are actually going to believe this guy and think this is a thing?”
Dave Gahan: Well, my son Jimmy, who is 24, he was kind of shocked by it… He was one of the first to say, “You got to make a response immediately.” Because people read s–t — unfortunately, as we know — and they interpret it as being real. It’s hard these days, because you really do have to search what you’re reading and where that information came from.”
Martin Gore: Yeah! I mean that statement from Richard Spencer, for us, came at a point where everything in the world seemed so crazy and we felt as if there would be nothing that could come at us from leftfield. And then that happened! I mean where did it come from? We don’t agree on anything they stand for. You could probably pick any one of our albums and there’d be a track with lyrics totally contrary to what they believe. It’s really baffling.
Not that hard and I love them by the way. They are disturbed by it and should be.
Love the guys and so glad that they shut the alt rt sh*t down quick. I saw them this summer and they sounded just as awesome as ever. No excuses for Taytay, even if her father’s a trump supporting douche, she has been an adult for some time now and should come out and condemn this.
on different subject, read that tay’s current bf in annoyed that she is writing songs about their relationship, and tay has gained 20 pounds due stress, todrick story was to distract that. Not sure how much of it is true but it’s tay sooo.. .
I’d be annoyed too. She’s so “private” yet shares with the whole world literally the most intimate details between the two of them.
She cannot control who is and who isn’t a fan of her music. She has the kind of music that reaches a broad and general audience of all ages. There’s nothing wrong with republicans listening to her music. You all realize that most republicans are NOT neo-nazis and racists? Come on. I think her strategy is is to ignore the neo-nazi idiots and just let it die down. Remember–giving something attention makes it grow. She’s famous for NOT being political and while I’m not a fan of her music, I don’t think she has to get involved in politics. It’s her choice. She makes pop music. And for all you guys know, she may be a republican herself and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just because someone isn’t a democrat doesn’t make them a bad person. Jeez.
And your point? Who gives a crap about anything else except the Nazi issue which is what this is about. She can control that. Easily.
If being associated with Nazis and a violent terrorist hate movement that murdered an innocent woman in Charlottesville is not problematic for you then I guess you share their values. It isn’t a gray issue.
All the filler and background noise isn’t significant.
Seriously?! C’mon, every other comment on here states they do not care if she doesn’t want to spout her political views in public. What people are frustrated/turned off/disgusted by is her unwillingness to simply say she is not a supporter of the neo-nazi movement. That is not a political issue, it’s basic human decency. Sick of her supporters acting like “OMG guys, she doesn’t have to be political if she doesn’t want to!!111!” I think a lot less of Taylor Swift and her supporters because of this.
I agree with you, PG. (And I own….zero of her albums or tracks, so not a fan/stan.)
As for the Richard Spencer stuff, where did this guy come from? I heard he was previously an “Occupy Wall Street” type that was pro-Obama.
Someone’s given him publicity. If he were a “real” Neo-Nazi, he would have known the name of the correct alternative/New Wave band to proclaim rather than the Depeche Mode blunder. (For the record, I don’t even know what band it is, but saw some commenters speculating on who he meant.) He just strikes me as some kind of provocateur to represent the “Alt-right”.
What does Taylor not distancing herself from neo-nazi and says she don’t not support their view have to do with politics???????
O that’s right nothing.
You clearly don’t know the difference between politics and racism, because if you did, you wouldn’t have tried to compare the two.
It was Taylor who said (There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other woman.) She had no problem being an open “feminist” and speaking about it publicly when it was convenient for her image a couple of years ago. Now you think she shouldn’t speak up about not supporting the Neo-Niazi views (if she doesn’t share their views that it) because of “politics”?????
Lol…Lucy be trying so hard. Stay strong Lucy, you doing your princess proud.
Its her app. If she doesnt ban hate speech like that on her own app then I’m coming along to the view that she isnt revolted by this association.
I want her to be disgusted by this, I hope she speak up. Doesnt look like it.
Did you ever think maybe she doesn’t condemn it because in fact she does support it? It’s more likely than not. If she were even neutral, a public condemnation would be a net gain for her career, because even Nazis like women who are too good for them.
I’ve been on the app (yeah, I know. 😛 )
First thing- even though I’m a Stan, I have to admit that the app is just bad and boring in general. From what I understand, you have to “like” as many posts as possible to collect virtual “Taymoji” stickers. Most of the posts are just 12 year olds being all “Like/share this so I can get likes/Taymojis!!!!!!!”
I haven’t actually seen any Trump/deplorable/Nazi content on there, although I live in the UK so maybe I’m not seeing what the American Swifties are up to. Because this app basically encourages the users to spam and “like” as much as possible, it’s going to be very hard to moderate. And 30% of Americans are deplorables, plus it’s the Internet so yeah, those posts are going to happen. But they’re definitely going to need some aggressive modding in ASAP, especially because this app has such a young target audience.
OMG .. . a rational person on Celebitchy! In fact, several of us it seems.