Before I get into this, I will clarify that I enjoy Taylor Swift’s music thoroughly. I am one of her top listeners on Spotify and will defend the quality of her music with my life. Okay, maybe not my life. I will defend her music quality, though, at least a little. Except for her most recent album, “The Tortured Poets Department”. I’m not defending it, and here’s why we all need to stop making excuses for her.
In May/June of 2023, Taylor Swift was sighted multiple times with The 1975’s frontman, Matty Healy. Initially thought to be just two friends hanging out, rumors quickly swirled as PDA-filled photos flooded media outlets. Nothing wrong with finding a boyfriend, no judgment. The only problem is this: Matty Healy is a fucking racist.
In February of 2023, Healy was recorded on the podcast “The Adam Friedland Show”, mocking popular rapper Ice Spice’s ethnicity. After a non-apology given on stage by Healy, Ice Spice was magically featured on a Taylor Swift track in May of 2023 (conveniently right as Taylor is spotted making out with Healy in a restaurant), thus sweeping the racism under the rug. Coincidence? Probably not. This wasn’t Healy’s first racist moment, either. During the same podcast, Healy revealed his preference for a porn site called “Ghetto Gaggers”, which revolves around the brutalization and humiliation of black women inflected by white men.
Yeah, it’s gross.
Thankfully, Healy and Swift parted ways soon into the Summer. But of course, nobody held Swift accountable for defending her musty racist spring fling. Which could have been fine, had it ended there.
Fast forward to April of this year, as “The Tortured Poets Department” is released. Imagine my dismay and annoyance as I listen to hear songs about Matty Healy, and one alarming little lyric:
“My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this. I’d say the 1830s, but without all the racists”, sings Swift in her new song, ‘I Hate It Here’.
Way to chalk up one of the most devastating times in African American history, Taylor. To refresh everyone’s memory: slavery was still legal in the 1830’s. There weren’t just a few racists, African American people were literally enslaved property. Please, enlighten me, Taylor! What about the 1830’s sounds fun? I guess things would be alright for you, a rich white woman who loves Tennessee. God, I cannot keep defending you.
It hurt the first time around, as a black, female fan. Watching a musician I enjoy completely ignore the existence of the women of color that support her career as she mouthed words into the camera during The Eras Tour last Spring sucked, and turning on her recent album only to hear the most ignorant bullshit recorded in a studio by a white woman this year… I’m just over it. When do we say it’s wrong? It’s okay to like an artist and say they’re doing something that’s not okay.
A common excuse that the average white Swiftie has is “Well, why are we holding Taylor accountable for a MAN’S actions? Ugh, she’s just a girl!”. Actually, no. She’s one of the top streamed artists in the world who chooses to socialize and date well-known racists and writes ignorant lyrics about real-world issues. I’m sorry, I forgot that it’s okay to date racists, as long as you don’t say it too. Because surely the company you keep doesn’t reveal who you really are.
Stop making excuses for her.