Taylor Swift stepped out last night in NYC, her first “pap stroll” outing in months. She went to the Eighty Six, a steakhouse. Taylor really went underground following the Super Bowl, and while she has been out in New York this year, she’s only been photographed very rarely. Taylor’s sending a message here: I’m back! Talk about me! Her skirt is way too short, btw. But obviously, she loves autumn. She loves boots and cute sweaters. We’ll be seeing more of her like this in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Taylor released The Life of a Showgirl last Friday, to mixed reviews and a fanbase which seems to be growing more disenchanted by the year. There are discussions about Taylor ripping off other artists with little to no credit. There are discussions about Taylor’s problematic behavior towards other women in the industry. There’s the “Opalite” discourse about the imagery and message she uses to discuss Travis Kelce’s Black ex-girlfriends (specifically Kayla Nicole). There’s also a discourse about Taylor’s romantic history, especially when she was an adult woman literally dating a kid in high school (Conor Kennedy). Anyway, you get the idea – a lot of people are talking a lot about Taylor and her album, and there are ongoing critiques of the music and Taylor herself. Well, Taylor welcomes those discussions! At least that’s what she claimed on The Zane Lowe Show:
Taylor Swift shared her candid thoughts on the passionate range of reactions to “The Life of a Showgirl.” She thanked the fans who “immediately” got the album’s emotion and themes — but she also had words for the critics. While appearing on Apple Music’s “The Zane Lowe Show,” Swift said she “welcomes the chaos” seeing that it’s a “rule of show business”: “If it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping. And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
The record has received mixed reviews from critics with some praise for its unabashed, joyful sound, while others criticize the lyrics for their perceived lack of depth.
“Oftentimes, an album is a really, really wild way to look at yourself,” Swift told Lowe. “What you’re going through in your life is going to affect whether you relate to the music that I’m putting out at any given moment.”
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter also made a revealing statement about what empowers her to make music: “We’re doing this thing for keeps. I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music. I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”
Taylor talking about “legacy” is wild. I expect an artist like Beyonce to talk about her artistic legacy, and working on legacy projects (which is exactly what the Renaissance trilogy is, a transcendent legacy project). But Taylor? She’s a 35-year-old who is still singing about high school and her fiance’s redwood dong. She’s still scrapping with pop girls and gaming the charts with variants (she’s released like 20 variants already, in like the past 72 hours). But she’s right, if people are talking about her, that’s good for sales and it means her promotion is working. It’s just that I don’t believe that Taylor has a que-sera-sera attitude about people critiquing her music or her celebrity persona.
Screencaps courtesy of MagicFM and The Graham Norton Show. Cover courtesy of Swift’s IG. Additional photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- New York, NY Taylor Swift steps out for dinner in New York, dazzling in a checkered mini skirt, paired with a black blouse, tan knee boots and a mini bag. Pictured: Taylor Swift BACKGRID USA 7 OCTOBER 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY Billionaire pop star Taylor Swift is spotted arriving for dinner at The Eighty Six in New York after she recently released her latest album ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ The always stylish Taylor was sporting a Dior Montaigne Avenue Top Handle Bag during the night out. Pictured: Taylor Swift BACKGRID USA 7 OCTOBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: JosiahW / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY Billionaire pop star Taylor Swift is spotted arriving for dinner at The Eighty Six in New York after she recently released her latest album ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ The always stylish Taylor was sporting a Dior Montaigne Avenue Top Handle Bag during the night out. Pictured: Taylor Swift BACKGRID USA 7 OCTOBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: JosiahW / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Am I the only one who finds her insufferable & utterly tedious?
nope.
I liked her at first but over time, yeah….. very insufferable.
Nope. Some tiktoker successfully put it into words by saying that she’s so rich that she’s totally out if touch, and also that there is probably no real self in there, that she’s always performing and probably lacks some authentic humanity
You most definitely are not. I am right there with you.
Nope.
Nope. She’s a professional victim. I hate that she’s on top of the industry. Clever songwriter? Sure. On top of the entire industry? No.
Yay for women, I guess.
No. I haven’t been able to stand her since her early song whining about sitting on the bleachers, watching her cheer captain rival. like, you’re a Conventionally attractive blue-eyed blonde in high school, snap out of it and get your man instead of spending your time badmouthing your peers for merely existing and also being attractive.
The first album of hers I listened to was Midnights, and I liked it. TTPD? Eh. An exercise in self-flagellation.
With this saccharine release, I get that she can say she’s full of light & love with her fiance, but man. The lyrics are both childish and super me-me-me-me-me-me-me, and while some songs are poppy hits thanks to that producer who seems to like that upbeat pop sound, I’m just tired of it already, and I’m only on a third album so far out of her 12 disc collection. At some point I may give Folklore and maybe Evermore a listen. Maybe.
I feel like the Taylor popularity bubble is about to burst. It’s too grandiose and now somewhat repellent. She’s kind of just a salesman like the orange 💩 at 1600 Penn.
Definitely not.
No…no you are not…
Count me in.
I have tried to stay neutral in the whole TS debacle (by just not listening to her music voluntarily), but she is literally every high school “mean girl” who either became a nurse or an English teacher and married some vapid but perfectly pleasant guy who is probably a volunteer football coach.
Oddly specific example? Perhaps. But at least in my world, very true.
The critiques have been really really interesting. I wish some of the ones on social media were linked on here because so many directly address the way her fan base (and white women in general) rush to infantalize her, defend her, and shield her from all criticism. If I see “joy is my resistance” one more time……
Straight up disrespectful and racist responses and defenses for Taylor. It’s baffling. And the constant stealing from Black vernacular and culture while they do it is surreal. The “Joy is my resistance” from a middle income white woman liking songs with racist lyrics is a real mind blowing yet apt peak at our current reality.
Do you follow Luvvie? She’s been all over this.
@Becks1 no I do not follow Luvvie. I follow other Black voices.
Well, this attitude seems new. Taylor had always been petty as shit, that has been a huge motivator for her.
Now I say something nice: her music is important and will leave a legacy. You may think its juvenile, but women in thier 30s still experience heartbreak and want to be loved and seen.
Also, I the song “Could’ve Would’ve Should’ve”, on one of the endless variants of Midnights, rips my heart out every time I hear it, and was a big part of my deciding to go to therapy and confront something painful that happened to me as a preteen. I’m not going to say it changed my life, but it put into words something I had buried, that was affecting me deeply, and now im actively working past it. So, thanks Taylor.
.
There are a lot of racially sus references besides that one but yeah I agree with the general sentiments of this post. It’s Wednesday I feel everyone has said what they were going to say. Swifties will never feel anything Taylor does is wrong, and when called out about the racist ideologies presented in several songs and even imagery they will double down into classism and using their white feminism talking points as a weapon (“but I voted for Kamala!” while being racist in their “clapbacks” towards Black and brown voices or “but Taylor hung out with that Black person over there that time so she isn’t bad” rebuttals). Black consumers were the most interesting voices because we rarely discuss her on this scale but we are getting drowned out by “Wellactually”isms. And at this point all it does is support Taylor in some way.
My favorite is Folklore. Loved it. I also enjoy a lot of her other songs. She is hardworking. She is talented, and she is generous to her crew and her fans. She endorsed Kamala Harris. I respect her.
Her songs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea? Understandable. To each their own.
For better or for worse, she has a legacy already. There is no other female artist who has become a billionaire through their music alone so that one fact means she will go down in music history. Her songs can be very different album to album, so what if some people don’t gel with this one, it’s not a big deal. She made what she wanted to make at the time, if it resonates, great, if not, move on and listen to something else.
So the criticisms from the Black community aren’t about “not gelling” with the album. They’re calling out her microaggressions and problematic language.
Plus @Becks1 her Billionaire status exemplifies white privilege and racial disparities.
This dismissiveness is the exact problem. And it’s also why the accusations of microaggressions and cultural blindness keep dogging Taylor. This is not the first time, not the third time, not the fifth time that people have accused her of these sort of things. I remember when shake it off came out and people were a little grossed out about her sliding in between the twerking black dancers legs. This is clearly a blind spot for her, and clearly one for a lot of her fans who seem to believe that any criticism of her is internalized misogyny or something else. Take a step back don’t be so invested in defending your fave and ask why does the same criticism, that’s well thought out and rational keep coming up for 15 years. No one is saying you can’t enjoy her music, or that her lyrics don’t touch something and you because of a personal connection, or that you identify with her, you can do that and also say, huh that’s a fair point.
@Becks and @Dee(2) I haven’t listened to the album yet. Once I do, I will know more and I will seek out people’s responses to the album, particularly the Black community, and listen to their thoughts. I’m not apologising for/defending her. So, the second part of my comment is due to a lack of knowledge on this so far and I take your points and apologise that it came across as glib or dismissive. The first part is a simple fact so that stands.
I think it was an ok answer, but nobody believes she has a laissez faire attituted about the reception of her music, because she cannot ever take criticism for anything else really. It’s totally understandable that an artist feels sensitive about their art, but she should find a way (or her team should) to read the constructive criticism. People who wrote that she should take time to experience the new things in her life and new sounds and concepts are spot on but she clearly has a a drive to churn out a lot of music and be as commercially successful as possible and at one point it becomes a matter of quality vs quantity.
Even if she hasn’t been seen much since the Super Bowl she has been way too much in the media and people are reaching Taylor fatigue and turning against her. Taylor of course will do what she wants but after the non-stop eras era imo she should have taken a well deserved musical break. She could have sat on this album, made it better and come back when people were more hungry for it.
Afterwards I agree with the ex-girlfriend and Charlie critique, just makes her look petty af
Her fall boot game is strong.
I know what she’s doing now is not eras tour show exhausting. But London to Los Angeles to New York in a week. I am exhausted just thinking about her travel itinerary.
I mean…she only has to walk herself to an SUV and then into one of her private jets where she very likely has a fluffy king bed…and then off into another SUV. That is not really travel. And she does not HAVE to do most of the jetting she does.
All I will say is that it is always interesting when left-leaning people and right-leaning people align on social media to tear down the same person. The target is usually a woman who is perceived to have too much power. By no means is TS perfect. But, there seem to be some weird shenanigans with people “interpreting” her in polar opposite ways to achieve the same objective.
Yep, exactly.
YUP! I don’t know what it says about this cultural moment but it’s not nothing and I hope someone smarter than me does some analysis.
Exactly!!
Folklore and Evermore will always mean a lot to me. I listened to those albums a lot when I was pregnant during the pandemic and they helped me to stay calm. But she comes back with these petty 16 year old high school mean girl songs when she’s nearing 40 years old and I’m like, good lord Taylor REALLY? (I don’t care that she wants to sing about how she likes her fiance’s appendage – I don’t find anything wrong with discussing liking sex.)
Taylor Swift is Tracy Flick, if Tracy went on to become a mega pop star.
She can’t handle the criticism – you can see her nostrils flaring in the clip where she says she “welcomes the chaos.” I imagine she went into the bathroom and punched a hole in the wall after that interview.
Also, I just saw a clip of her on Graham Norton’s show, where he asks Lewis Capaldi about his upcoming album, and Lewis says “I was told I wasn’t allowed to talk about that” and Taylor feigns shock, but you can see her snipe “Thanks” at Graham, clearly pissed he brought up another guest’s new music. It’s pretty funny.
She doesn’t say, “thanks”, she says “jinx”, because they said the same thing at the same time. Let’s not spread misinformation.
@sevenblue – Thanks for pointing out my mistake, my closed captions said “Thanks”. I always welcome corrections, but please do it without condescendingly scolding me.
No taylor is covert racist and this is ths same woman wore slavery cosplaying brand in her music video which is also favorite of her bestie blake lively. To deflect her racism in the above outing she spotted with Black man ( idk who he is) like clock work her team arrange this . This is same as how she used ice spice. Also how people are overlooking taylor saying taking other people work without credits , I mean she even sings about this in cancelled which is clearly about blake lively got caught trying to steal movie rights from Justin and taylor practically said dont be sloppy and I will teach how to steal.
They stood by me
Before my exoneration
They believed I was innocent
So I’m not here for judgment, no, ooh
But if you can’t be good, then just be better at it
Everyone’s got bodies in the attic
Or took somebody’s man
We’ll take you by the hand
And soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught
This is clearly blake and Ryan stayed with her during kim saga and Ryan also have the habit of stealing other people work . We will mostly Ryan and taylor telling blake they will teach her not to get caught.
There is way to much anti Taylor in these posts and these comments lately. She’s having fun and bringing people joy during tough times. It’s simpler than you think. You don’t have to look and you don’t have to listen.
Sooo……that’s your response to some of the really thoughtful and nuanced commentary out there about Taylor in general and this album in particular?
@Becks1 it’s wild isn’t it?! Thoughtful post pointing out how this is a consistent issue that she really needs to address, saying it’s okay to like her music but acknowledge it. Bunch of posts saying either you don’t have to like it, commenting on her clothes and ignoring the actual issues brought up in the post, and talking about their favorite songs. This tells me that a lot of her fan base realizes that this criticism is justified and they just don’t want to feel bad for liking it.
Peeps acknowledging that we have all to some degree been socialized to accepting misogyny, racism, homophobia and other bigotry is going to be uncomfortable. It’s still needs to be done. None of us are exempt from it.
@Dee2 exactly. The knee jerk responses of “people just hate successful women” or “this is misogyny” or “she’s not saying anything racist” or “joy is my resistance” arent helping here.
The posts and commentary I’ve seen have been really interesting and address nuances in her lyrics and behavior that I haven’t thought about before, at least not in those terms. It’s not people posting something like “TAYLOR SUCKS!!!!!”
and most of the criticism isnt even “Taylor is blatantly racist and hates all Black people.” it focuses a lot on microaggressions, how she borrows certain terms from Black culture, how she’s infantilized by her fans in a way that Black artists are not, etc.
There are legitimate discussions happening and its frustrating to see her fans write them off as “you’re just anti-Taylor.”
Yes that is my response. Everyone else is totally nuts! Do you do this with any other music?
@Amanda yeah people do this with a lot of artists. Beyoncé gets criticism for her song writing or lack of songwriting prowess even though she constantly gets song writing credits, Lana Del Rey gets criticism for the trad wife / overtly misogynistic things in a lot of her music, Morgan wallen gets criticism for his overtly jingoistic music, Drake gets criticism for his tendency to be a culture vulture and to ride trends without giving acknowledgment to the people that are the innovators in certain genres. So no it’s not poor Taylor getting picked on. It’s people looking at an art form and having legitimate criticism for it. Good artists internalize that, it’s not too much to ask of her. And it doesn’t make you a hater or anything else.
Do I what? call out racism in lyrics when I notice it? Read other people’s nuanced critiques of pop culture figures like Swift or Beyonce? Engage in thoughtful conversation about problematic figures or songs?
Because the answer is yes to all of those. The criticism of Taylor seems louder because she is the biggest pop star in the world right now. So the criticism is going to be louder.
I mean the Grammys literally added a new category after Beyonce won Best Country Album because there was so much (racist) backlash. I think Taylor’s fans can handle her being called out for her own behavior.
I’ll have to listen to these songs at some point to see if I’m offended. Maybe when I commute into the office next week.
I would think somebody as media savvy and business savvy as Swift would not want to alienate a portion of her fan base, i.e. WOC.
But I’m not a Swiftie and I have not followed her music much, as a Gen X.
“And all the headshots on the walls
Of the dance hall are of the bitches
Who wish I’d hurry up and die
But I’m immortal now, baby dolls
I couldn’t if I tried”
I think, it is very interesting Taylor the artist grew up to be this. Sure, she may be doing a bit or just parodying herself like Blank Space, but she is the one putting this out there for all the industry, her coworkers to see. She is seeing enemies everywhere in new upcoming pop girlies. We didn’t get this kind of music from someone like Beyonce about how paranoid she was that new, younger talent is gonna replace her. This speaks to an unnecessary level of insecurity.
She used to say, she was bringing something new to the table from other artists and that made her music different. That security is absent in her work for some time now. It seems like 30s are hitting her hard. I am not even going into the part she is calling other female artists “bitches”, because, really Taylor?? After the hell you raised because you were callled one?? 🙄🙄
The media was on her ass about that low standard music video film she put out, saying that this was her Thriller, Lemonade. There is an established expectation from the media, her fans that she is gonna rise above the current legends to become the new one without even seeing the work. Let’s see maybe TS13 is gonna give them one, but after seeing this album and its sales numbers, I don’t expect her to see the need to create something much much better, because why should she?
Your last question. Why should she? There are some thoughtful critiques out there and they’re fair. Taking them in isn’t a bad thing for future growth.
The discourse on Threads about Opalite has been wild. I’m not seeing a lot of black people actually saying the song is actually racist (I am not saying that is not the case, but that is what I see on my Threads timeline). It’s mostly white people insisting on that.
I’ve read the lyrics several times. The only problematic lyric I can really see is the “she was in her phone” potentially referring to Travis’s ex being too obsessed with her phone to pay attention to Travis. Not exactly a nice lyric but I’m not sure how that’s supposed to be racist. Lots of people are obsessed with their phones and not paying attention to what’s going on around them. That’s a human being problem, not a black/white person specific problem.
But the “sleepless in the onyx night”, I don’t see that referring to Kayla Nicole at all which is what most people seem to be harping on. I interpreted as Taylor being restless and sleepless and staying up all night. Taylor explained how she wanted to use gemstones in the chorus and I can’t ever remember seeing so much fuss about a word used to describe the darkness of night. I guess had she used “sleepless in the dark of night” no one would have had any issues? I don’t even want to imagine what the reaction would have been had she used “sleepless in the black of night.”
I am not a Swiftie but the things that Taylor gets accused of, a lot of it seems to be manufactured outrage. I am not saying she’s not problematic either. I am tired of her stupid feuds with other female celebrities, her cattiness, her pettiness, her high school mentality (she literally had a song called “So high school” on her last album). There’s a lot to criticize but I don’t see what other people see in this song.
His ex is an influencer, being on her phone is literally her job. Why is THE Taylor Swift coming after her fiance’s ex, knowing her fans were harassing her with racial slurs for years now?? That is deranged.
Exactly…why is she coming for anyone who has less fame, money, status etc which is almost everyone…
Just enjoy being a billionaire , you don’t have to punch down…or whatever the expression is…
A LOT of Black women are calling out that specific lyric actually as a microaggression. And a lot of white women are saying “okay I didn’t see the racism in it but now that you’ve pointed out, i see what you mean.” And then a lot of white women are saying SHES NOT RACIST NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY.
she’s also being called out for saying she’s not a savage which is pretty problematic language.
and there is a LOT more. I can’t link to threads on here or else I’d post some of the commentary I’ve seen.
Elizabeth rose Halligan has been a fascinating follow for me though.
I definitely think there are conversations to be had about microaggreions and punching down but she never says she is not a savage,.she says this isn’t savage and that ‘a’ makes a critical different. The whole song is using Internet lingo, now is she stepping out of line with that? Maybe but I think the way she used the word matters.
@smalltowngirl I haven’t listened to the lyric so I’ll take your word for it (I did try to listen to Opalite but I got through like a minute and had to change the radio station.)
but that’s my mistake, not the mistake of those criticizing her. She’s being called out for using the term “savage” regardless of the article in front of it. And its a lot of people finding her use of that term problematic especially in the context of *everything else.*
I understand a lot of the criticism around Taylor, but her using a night/day metaphor in her song isn’t racist. Taylor is a petty bitch who loves drama and she’d go after Kelce’s ex no matter if the ex was press secretary Nazi Barbie (sorry can’t be bothered to look up her name).
I like the new album.
I love her outfit here. I hate her new album. But I’m not really a big Taylor stan to begin with. I find her to be the very definition of “mid.” Mid vocals, mid performance ability, and – lately – mid songs.
I trust that the Black women calling out Taylor’s microaggressions are the authority on this. I mean, white women like me haven’t picked up on them, which is the whole point. We wouldn’t recognize them. Taylor probably didn’t either.
But that doesn’t excuse her, because she has a massive platform. I hope she takes these criticisms on board and learns from them. Criticizing Taylor isn’t misogyny. She’s an artist and a superstar; criticism goes with the territory.
I’ve listened to this album and purely on its musical value, it’s fine. Not great. Certainly not on the level of “Folklore” or “Red” (two of my faves).
All of this said, most of my outrage these days is reserved for the fascists running our country.
I hope Taylor reads the criticism and learns and grows from it. She could do that. Let’s see.
I don’t take a huge interest: but she’s massively famous, incredibly wealthy, very pretty and writes catchy songs. I don’t have the time or inclination to examine the lyrics for potential
Insults to people I don’t know.
On another note, I do wish she would take time off her music and just exist, be curious about what is going on outside of her bubble, expand her knowledge and experience beyond her music machine. To me her music is redundant and immature.
I gave her grace when she was in her 20s, knowing that she had limited life experiences. But she’s over 30 now. There’s more to life than your boyfriend, his ex, your exes, enemies and frenemies. I think she’s too self absorbed and detached from the real world and real people.
I only ever got interested in Tay because I thought she was going to save democracy, but dayum she has some bangers. She is talented and clearly knows how to manage her image and run her empire. I don’t really get why she’s putting out an album a year, though. That’s something up and coming artists do, not mega stars. I admire her hustle and her work effort, but there’s also something to be said for artistic reinvention. Why bother with a lackluster album when you’re already a billionaire? Disappear. Grow artistically. Come back with an unforgettable album.
I think this lackluster album should have been titled “I’m Still So High School.” And Travis doesn’t appear to inspire great songs about him. Her lyrics are really going downhill.
I’m just here to say that “86” is an interesting choice for a restaurant name. I would expect them to be out of everything!
I’m enjoying the album and the majority of the “discourse” is from people who’ve given the album a surface listen and wanted to hate it.
There so many layers to fate of Ophelia, from a willow branch being central to Ophelia’s death and Taylor’s song Willow, to Joe Alwyn playing Laertes in Hamlet this year to Ophelia’s relationship with her father and Father Figure.
As for the sampling, it’s intentional and credited. The artists sampled – including George Michael – all famously had fights with their labels.