Taylor Swift knows you’re frustrated she wasn’t involved politically before now, and she got candid about why
Recently, Taylor Swift has worked to make her social and political views known by encouraging her fans to donate to GLAAD and petitioning senators on various causes she believes in. (Sometimes, some argue, maybe even to a fault by using LGBTQ stereotypes in her “You Need to Calm Down” video.) But for the majority of her career, she took a much different path. In a recent interview with Vogue, Swift explained why she remained politically silent for so long, and why she isn’t anymore.
On October 7th, 2018, Swift made her first, very open endorsement of Democratic candidates in her local midterm election. It was noteworthy because the singer was often the target of criticism for not using her platform to speak up during the 2016 presidential election.
Now, Swift is opening up about why she had remained silent, despite, as she says, supporting Hillary Clinton. And yes, it does have to do with that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West feud.
Before her sixth studio album, the infamous Swift-Kardashian-West feud blew up our social media feeds. Kardashian called Swift a liar and snake (we all know how Tay turned that one around) and, according to Swift, attacked and damaged her reputation. Hence, Swift’s album Reputation, which seemed a direct response to all the drama.
In the Vogue interview, Swift addressed how the scandal affected her.
"A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience," she said. "I don't think there are that many people who can actually understand what it's like to have millions of people hate you very loudly."
This all unfolded amid the 2016 election. And because of the intense backlash, Swift says she believed speaking up in support of Clinton would have done more harm than good for the candidate.
“Unfortunately in the 2016 election you had a political opponent who was weaponizing the idea of the celebrity endorsement. He was going around saying, 'I’m a man of the people. I’m for you. I care about you.' I just knew I wasn’t going to help," she said. "Also, you know, the summer before that election, all people were saying was 'She’s calculated. She’s manipulative. She’s not what she seems. She’s a snake. She’s a liar.' These are the same exact insults people were hurling at Hillary. Would I be an endorsement or would I be a liability? 'Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women.' The two nasty women. Literally millions of people were telling me to disappear. So I disappeared. In many senses.
It’s clear Swift doesn’t want to disappear anymore. When Vogue asked why she decided now was the time to speak out for the LGBTQ community, she was candid.
“Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male, she said. “I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of. It’s hard to know how to do that without being so fearful of making a mistake that you just freeze. Because my mistakes are very loud. When I make a mistake, it echoes through the canyons of the world. It’s clickbait, and it’s a part of my life story, and it’s a part of my career arc.
It seems that now Swift is choosing to fight for what she believes in instead of worrying about making mistakes. We love how she’s using her voice to call for change, and we can’t wait to hear more of what she has to say when Lover is released on August 23rd.
