Lord help us all. Taylor Swift covers the latest issue of Variety to promote her Netflix documentary Taylor Swift: Miss Americana. I didn’t know what to expect with this doc, but luckily Variety spells it out in exhaustive detail. The doc won’t be about the Scooter Braun stuff, although there’s some of that. It’s mostly about Taylor’s move to becoming Political Tay and LGBTQ Ally Tay. Of course, the doc also has a section about Kanye West and Tay’s still-convoluted feelings about all of that. Again, I’m not saying that Kanye is a good guy and Taylor is a snake. That’s not it. I just can’t even believe that she’s STILL harping on and on about that. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:
On her work on Cats: “I’m happy to be here, happy to be nominated, and I had a really great time working on that weird-ass movie. I’m not gonna retroactively decide that it wasn’t the best experience. I never would have met Andrew Lloyd Webber or gotten to see how he works, and now he’s my buddy. I got to work with the sickest dancers and performers. No complaints.”
On the Dixie Chicks getting cancelled: “I saw how one comment ended such a powerful reign, and it terrified me. These days, with social media, people can be so mad about something one day and then forget what they were mad about a couple weeks later. That’s fake outrage. But what happened to the Dixie Chicks was real outrage. I registered it — that you’re always one comment away from being done being able to make music.”
Why she came out against Marsha Blackburn: “I can’t see another commercial [with] her disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values.’ I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That’s not what we stand for.” Pushing back tears, she laments not having come out against Trump two years earlier, “but I can’t change that. … I need to be on the right side of history. … Dad, I need you to forgive me for doing it, because I’m doing it.”
Her LGBTQ allyship: “To celebrate but not advocate felt wrong for me. Using my voice to try to advocate was the only choice to make. Because I’ve talked about equality and sung about it in songs like ‘Welcome to New York,’ but we are at a point where human rights are being violated. When you’re saying that certain people can be kicked out of a restaurant because of who they love or how they identify, and these are actual policies that certain politicians vocally stand behind, and they disguise them as family values, that is sinister. So, so dark.”
Her recent speeches criticizing Scooter Braun & the music industry: “Well, I do sleep well at night knowing that I’m right, and knowing that in 10 years it will have been a good thing that I spoke about artists’ rights to their art, and that we bring up conversations like: Should record deals maybe be for a shorter term, or how are we really helping artists if we’re not giving them the first right of refusal to purchase their work if they want to?”
Regarding that last quote… those are great issues and if I honestly thought she was beefing with Scooter Braun as part of a larger effort to Trojan-horse those issues into a larger music-industry conversation, I would applaud the hell out of her. But… nothing she’s done thus far leads me to believe that she is trying to speak to the issues of shorter recording contracts and more rights for artists. She’s really just mad that contractually, she got screwed over. Which is fine – she did get screwed over and she has every right to be mad. But be honest about it.
“Pushing back tears, she laments not having come out against Trump two years earlier, ‘but I can’t change that. … I need to be on the right side of history…’” I mean… she didn’t come out in 2016 because she didn’t want the personal/professional hit so soon after The Receipts, Taymerica and Tiddlebanging. Be honest about that too.
Update: This Variety cover story was super-long and there were a lot of interesting, gossip-worthy moments and I obviously culled a lot from the piece for these highlights. Taylor did talk about how her mom has a brain tumor and said she’s really been struggling with her mom’s illness for a while.
Cover and photos courtesy of Variety.
“I need to be on the right side of history.” Is probably the worst reason. Does she have any kind of convictions? Does she care about others? Or is it about her “legacy”?
She isnt the only one to use this phrase and I really dont like it at all.
Right. I’ve said it before, regardless of your political party you have to stand up and say enough. It isn’t about being on the right side of history, it’s about standing up and doing what is right. It’s about standing up against racism, sexism, homophobia and corruption. It’s about not being suspicious and automatically thinking the worst of your fellow human beings. Again, it’s about saying enough!
The only time I use that phrase it is to comfort myself because everyone seems to disagree with me about Trump these days. At least I know I am on the right side of history… on the side of facts and evidence.
She used it oddly.
The “forgive me dad but I’m doing it” part is interesting. I wonder if her dad is a Blackburn/Trump supporter or was he actively trying to talk her out of getting political? Either way, she’s super late to the party but that may have influenced her decision to not speak up until now.
Yes, her father is Republican and *very* conservative. I believe people even found his Facebook and it wasn’t pretty…
Better late than never. We all need to start somewhere don’t we?
She mentions in the article that her dad was concerned for her safety – basically pissing off some crazy right-wing gun nuts in addition to all the stalkers she already has.
I also think the article is way more interesting than the excepts CB posted – probably because they just want to knock her for Kanye & Scooter stuff. I thought the stuff about how, ten years ago, she was actually praised by a certain section of people for not giving her political opinion and how that influenced how she behaved in the 2016 election.
“Dad, I need you to forgive me for doing it, because I’m doing it.”
Taylor is 30 years old, and is subtly letting people know she’s not able to make her own decisions before asking her father for… forgiveness?
Please?
I just commented that maybe her dad’s opinions influenced her decision to not speak up until now but you make a good point. I’m her age and have very different political opinions than my parents and own them. She’s definitely old enough to do the same. But I do get being afraid to go against the grain of what you were raised with. It took me until the horrors of the Trump era to be comfortable openly expressing my progressive views to my conservative family.
You may have different beliefs from your dad, but do you have an international platform such that you are essentially calling your dad out to the world? I don’t care how old you are; that must be difficult.
Her Dad is heavily involved in her business, and has helped her immensely in getting to where she is now, so I can see how she might apologize to him, or how she might not have even talked politics this extensively with him before.
If I had her platform, even though I know my father!s beliefs are whack job horrible, I’d still not be excited about disappointing him. My grandparents are long deceased but my parents both talk occasionally about not wanting to disappoint them.
Yeah, so I’m a regular reader and fan of this site, and I’m definitely no Swifty, but I think that comment was taken out of context. It wasn’t something she was saying in the interview. The quote was taken from the documentary itself, during an actual conversation with her dad. Her dad was arguing with her about going public with her political views, and she told him she was going to do it.
I am noooo Taylor Stan, I generally find her insufferable. But I actually found her really approachable and vulnerable in these quotes.
Her mom has breast cancer and now a brain tumor. That is not easy. I wish her well.
This. And at least she stepped up. Baby steps for us all sometimes.
Wrong spot. Responding to @ME directly above.
I feel like this should be a separate post. This is a big, traumatic situation and is shading everything for her- opinions, policies, when and if and how much to speak out-, has been, and will be for a long time. Her mother’s cancer appears to be taking the exact path my mom’s did- start with breast cancer, remission, come back as brain tumors- and then, for my mom, death. It’s horrible, emotional, has made me go from a naturally upbeat and happy-go-lucky person to one morbidly focused on mortality and health and I don’t like the way it’s affected my parenting timing (wanting kids early so I don’t leave them), decisions (well what if I’m not alive, what if I get sick before then), etc. this is huge for her and anyone suffering.
@ Kristina
I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my father young so I understand how it completely changes you as a person. God only knows what fears Taylor has. It must be a very difficult time for her family and scary.
Thank you so much, @ME, and I’m very sorry to hear about your father.
@ME, the brain tumor is part of her breast cancer. It has metastasized to other organs and she’s now stage IV but it’s still breast cancer.
In spite of all the pink hype about breast cancer, the public is still not very educated about how this disease works. It may seem like a detail but for those of us with metastatic breast cancer, it’s important to have the seriousness of our condition recognised and talked about.
@ mitikko
Yes I am aware of that. I assumed it had spread to her brain. I used to work in Oncology at a hospital. I saw first hand the horrors of this disease. Very sad indeed.
She hired oscar winning (or nominated I don’t remember well) director of documentaries to do this movie, I swear to God she’s doing it to get an Oscar nom this time for documentary, that’s why it’s fully political and not about her and her beefs. And next Oscars campaign will be in a middle of presidential election, I don’t know maybe I overthink her actions or she’s really that calculative.
Still don’t understand the point of this doc, what it should be about: an ordinary American girl breaking through political maze or something?
I’m sure she wouldn’t be mad about it getting awards, but I would assume she hired these people because she wants the best people possible working on her documentary? I don’t really see anyone in similar shoes being like “yeah we’ll go with someone that’s just ok.” Like Beyoncé would demand the best because she is the best and expects the same caliber work ethic and excellence of the people she hires.
‘ Because I’ve talked about equality and sung about it in songs like ‘Welcome to New York,’ Oh God, her one line of boys and boys and girls and girls or whatever it was, is considered equality in her eyes? I hate this new phase of her trying to become an activist, not because those aren’t great causes, but because she’s only doing it now when it’s becoming more popular to do so.
Also, she completely thought Cats would become the next Les Mis, and she would be critically acclaimed. Now, she’s going to pretend she’s part of the joke.
It’s all so self involved. She seems to think she would have actually influenced the election, and her reason for doing it now is to make sure she looks good? Do I have that right? Yeah, go away, Taylor.
To me the most shocking part of the interview is her cover photo with her mouth not hanging open
Agressive (white) mediocrity wins again.
Being on the right side of history is fine for anyone who simply needs to settle in. In all these personal familial political tug-of-wars as well as swaths of communities unilaterally, sometimes that’s all we get. Giving in for personal satisfaction and/or public reticence and appeasement is palatable, imo, so we can f@cking move forward and out of this shithole. As for Taylor regurgitating old beefs, I can’t blame her per say because it’s what we do. It’s what media does. It’s what the internet and social media does every day (cancelling because of the past). Everyone hangs on for dear life and brings up shit which should be dead and gone. It drives me crazy, but I certainly can’t single out one celebrity. How long will I see photos of Brad and Jen? Seriously.
That’s very nicely stated.
And by Christ the side of right needs all the bodies we can get. LIGHT UP THOSE PHONES TODAY.
I appreciate she is speaking out but wow her brand of support is just peak white feminism. You just know she wants a pat in the back for saying the gays are people too. White people really do the bare minimum and feel like activists.
Geez, guys. I’m not going to shade her for finally deciding to become political — better late than never. Not everyone knows how to speak out, or when, or feels informed enough to do so. Taylor is now clearly well-versed in politics and only speaks about issues she knows well and can educate her fans about. I admire that.
It’s not about being on the right side of history it’s about doing what is right.
Wish she’d realize it’s not all about her. Honestly.
“Pushing back tears, she laments not having come out against Trump two years earlier, ‘but I can’t change that. … I need to be on the right side of history…’”
Dear God, her and others who fall into this particular brand of white woman are so exhausting. Some of us don’t have a choice about trying to end up on the right side of history, it’s literally our existence that is at stake.