Public image of Taylor Swift

For her overall public influence, see Cultural impact of Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift outside the Late Show with David Letterman studio in 2012

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is a topic of extensive mass media interest and press coverage. As a person both widely admired and scrutinized, her life and career elicit a range of public opinion. Authors and academics have examined Swift's high social approval as well as the tendency to controversy. Her estimated earned media value is US$130 billion as of 2023.

Swift is a ubiquitous but polarizing cultural figure whose public image is defined by the complex relationship between her, her vast fandom, detractors, and the mainstream media, which have been characterized as parasocial interactions at times. In her early career as a country singer in the late 2000s decade, Swift was referred to as "America's Sweetheart" due to her girl-next-door image. Her dating life became a topic of rampant tabloid speculation in the early 2010s, even though she had been reluctant to openly discuss it. American public relations executive Tree Paine became Swift's publicist in 2014.

By the 2020s, the general public showed a heightened interest in content about Swift, which proved to be financially lucrative for news outlets that hyperfocus on her, leading to a media feedback loop that resulted in a consumer "fatigue" of Swift's "overexposure". Coverage of her disputes, such as with Kanye West, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian, and breakups with romantic partners like John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston and Matty Healy, affected Swift's public image negatively; she has been a target of misogyny and perceived double standards, including slut-shaming and body shaming remarks. The negative responses inspired a significant portion of Swift's music, such as her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). The Guardian opined that Swift has become "immune to hate", mentioning her unabating commercial success. She began dating American football player Travis Kelce in 2023, which has had significant cultural impact and contributed $331.5 million in brand value for the National Football League (NFL).

Publications have described Swift as a savvy businesswoman, feminist figure, political influencer, millennial exemplar and a style icon; her philanthropic efforts, activism for artists' rights, closeness with fans, and impact on popular culture and the music industry have been praised. Swift is also known for her rapport in interviews, enthusiastic persona, and embracing the cat lady archetype. As one of the first celebrities established in the age of social media, Swift has been cited by critics as an instance of the celebrity–industrial complex, with various companies and services leveraging her in their promotional activities. On the other hand, Swift's privacy and safety has been a concern as she is often mobbed at her residences and leaked real-time locations, with several incidents of armed stalkers and trespassers. Her private jet usage in 2022 was criticized for its greenhouse gas emissions, though she purchased carbon credits to offset them.

Mainstream perceptions

Further information: Cultural impact of Taylor Swift § Fame and stardom, and List of awards and nominations received by Taylor Swift § Listicles

Swift at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards; she was considered a teen idol in her early career.

The life and career of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift are recurrent topics in global media and celebrity culture. A dominant cultural figure, Swift has a ubiquitous presence in popular culture, and is often referred to as a pop icon; publications note her immense popularity and longevity as the kind of fame unwitnessed since the 20th century. The Economist opined that Swift "has a strong claim to being the most popular entertainer of the 21st century—and perhaps of all time". Critical commentary often refers to Swift as an uncommon, monocultural entity, or more often "the most famous person on the planet".

"I've never seen any woman handle herself the way she does. She makes my eyes water, the way she handles herself. She manages the whole fame trip, what it means to be in the spotlight. So when you think about all the things going wrong the world she is the true great role model."

Oprah Winfrey on Swift, Herald Sun (2015)

According to journalists, Swift's public image is a combination of her perceived reputations as a consistent artist, an astute entrepreneur and a famous media personality. Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times wrote, Swift is "a mix of prolific artistic output and relentless business savvy, plus cultural dominance as a celebrity". In the words of music critics Sam Sanders and Ann Powers, Swift is a "surprisingly successful composite of megawatt pop star and bedroom singer-songwriter." Coscarelli made a similar point, saying that Swift's career "seems to bridge the gap between two kinds of artists ... the sustained, hit-making entertainers who may be overlooked, at least at first, as musicians, and the serious singer-songwriters who tend to be more critically lauded." Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian opined that "Swift manages to be both authentic singer-songwriter and unabashed hyper-capitalist." Media outlets often describe Swift as a savvy businesswoman, who is also known for her philanthropic initiatives and "generous" donations.

In late 2000s, the media labelled Swift in her early career as "America's Sweetheart" for her likability and girl-next-door image; Rolling Stone's Gavin Edwards called her "2008's Country Lolita". Swift also earned a reputation for her enthusiasm at award shows. Journalists have written about her polite and "open" personality, calling her a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". However, The New York Times asserted in 2013 that her "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis". Swift has been reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life, calling it "a career weakness". She is a subject of incessant scrutiny in the press. Swift's detractors accused her of being "calculated" and manipulative of her image, a narrative bolstered by a 2016 dispute with American rapper Kanye West. Cultural critics have highlighted that Swift's life and career have been subject to intense misogyny and slut-shaming. Nevertheless, between 2019 and 2021, YouGov surveys ranked her as the world's most admired female musician.

Having embraced the cat lady archetype, Swift owns three cats: Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button. They have been featured or referenced in her videos and other works. According to journalists, being unapologetically "cringe" and "uncool" is a significant aspect of Swift's public appeal.

Press and television

Crafts, capitalism, conspiracies, cultural norms, the climate crisis; football, family relations, fine dining; Argylle, AI, asbestos, academia and museums; the US election, Senate hearings, international relations and the international date line; romance, sexuality and the right way to be successful; gun crime, Grammys and grammar: in just the first two months of 2024, The Guardian's reporting on Taylor Swift has spilled far beyond her natural home in the music section, reflecting a reach that exceeds the pop superstar's unstoppable ambitions.

— Laura Snapes on Swift's sphere of influence in the media, The Guardian

In the mass media, Swift and her music are referenced or have been the subject of numerous books, films, and television shows. Deadline Hollywood dubbed Swift "the Monarch of All Media". According to El País's Xavi Sancho, Swift "is a tireless worker, enterprising and ubiquitous, to the point that she seems to be testing the limits of capitalism by saturating it with her presence." Critic Kitty Empire dubbed Swift a "post-media" celebrity who does not need the favor of the media to sustain a career.

Swift interviewed by YouTube executive Kevin Allocca in 2011

Shows and television programs featuring her often attain viewership peaks; for instance, Swift's presence at a number of National Football League (NFL) games broke a series of viewership, ticket and merchandise sales records for the league, network and television, referred to as the "Taylor Swift effect". USA Today journalist Louie Villalobos remarked Swift "is saving NFL, and has helped generate $122 million to the NFL's brand value." According to Apex Marketing Group, Swift's contribution to the brand value for the National Football League and the Kansas City Chiefs is as high as $331.5 million. Swift was credited with a 20 percent increase in sponsorships for the 2023 NFL season, resulting in $2.35 billion in revenue, 15 percent more than the previous season. Viewership of NFL games increased 53 percent among teenage girls and 24 percent among persons of age 18 to 24. The episode of dance competition program Dancing With the Stars that paid tribute to Swift amassed a record 7.8 million viewers across all official platforms, making it the show's most-watched multi-platform telecast on ABC since its September 2021 premiere.

Taylor Swift: The Little Golden Book Biography, a children's book written by Wendy Loggia and illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, is the fastest-selling print in the 81-year history of Little Golden Books, having sold a million copies in seven months. News magazine Time's 2023 Person of the Year issue featuring Swift sold 238,808 physical copies, not including newsstand sales, marking the highest-selling Time issue since the May 2011 issue that featured the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, which sold 232,000 copies from the website and the newsstands combined.

Swift is also a favorite choice of mention in the media, albeit in an attempt to attract a wide readership. Other celebrities are often asked about Swift "almost constantly". Scottie Andrew of CNN opined that "shoehorning" Swift into news stories in which she is not tangentially related "has become something of a pastime for content creators". Bond Benton, a professor in communication and media at Montclair State University, studied the phenomenon and stated that "the presence of Swift in any media content will increase visibility of that content." Benton characterized Swift as an unintentional but reliable "attention-grabber" whose internet media coverage has a "memetic" quality, inviting "fans and haters alike to debate and dissect her", elevating the engagements with an article or a video, which in turn encourages the media to include Swift in their content, even if it is an "awkward inclusion", to maximize their profits. As a side-effect, this hyperfocus on Swift "can needle consumers who feel she's oversaturating their news feeds."

Critics have described the relationship between Swift and the mainstream media as an example of the celebrity–industrial complex, which in turn has affected Swift's art profusely; her sixth studio album Reputation (2017), whose subject matter is fame, critiques the complex, while her autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020) deconstructs it. In November 2023, journalist Bryan West joined Gannett as a reporter exclusively covering Swift. In February 2024, The Guardian began a weekly newsletter, Swift Notes, dedicated to Swift-related news, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London looked to hire "superfan advisors" ahead of the Eras Tour's European leg in 2024. According to Entertainment Weekly's Maura Johnston, Swift's every move is inspected since she is "one of the first pop stars to have fully grown up in the era of social media's endless feedback loop with the celebrity-industrial complex". The Washington Post's Meaghan Tobin and Pei-Lin Wu note that despite the strict censorship practices in China, "Swift has managed to steer clear of scrutiny ... In fact, Chinese state media seems to have nothing but praise for [her]". Her public image has been studied academically in broader contexts at various educational institutions, such as New York University and Berklee College of Music.

Publicity and controversy

In her "You Need to Calm Down" music video, Swift critiqued the media for pitting female artists against each other by portraying drag queens impersonating various pop stars competing for one crown.

Swift has been a polarizing figure; according to Coscarelli, even though Swift has "studiously avoided" instances of controversy, she has been met with "extra-musical headlines". Her fame has had detrimental effects on her position in the media; some are genuine critique of her actions, while the rest constitute unverified tabloid gossip that has resulted in various moments of negative press for Swift. Shaina Weatherhead of Collider wrote that all of Swift's moves are "closely monitored and analyzed", Clash described Swift as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism, and branding expert Jeetendehr Sehdev told Fortune, "People love her or hate her". Vox journalist Alex Abad-Santos agreed, claiming "it's impossible to be neutral" about Swift, with the public opinion of her having developed two polar extremes; he described Swift as a cultural Rorschach test. Swift has generally used negative critique as musical inspiration, writing songs such as "Shake It Off" (2014), "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017), and "You Need to Calm Down" (2019).

Tree Paine has been Swift's publicist since 2014; Swift is Paine's first and only known client. Paine has received press coverage for guiding Swift through a number of publicized moments, such as Swift's 2016 controversy with West following the release of his single "Famous", her 2017 sexual assault trial, her choice to speak on politics for the 2018 U.S. mid-term elections, the 2019 dispute over her masters, and a 2023 series of claims about Swift by celebrity gossip social media account DeuxMoi. Public relations academic Nancy Marshall wrote in Forbes that Swift's "omnipresence provides valuable lessons for the entire public relations industry." Marketing executive Stacy Jones estimated Swift's earned media value at $130 billion.

Swift's public disputes and alleged "feuds" have received widespread online attention and media coverage. She began experiencing media "overexposure" in 2012. Some media are noted for igniting "beef" between Swift and other celebrities, especially against other women. Swift has had "feuds" with celebrities like Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj, both of whom publicly engaged Swift. Animosity alleged by media outlets also contest Swift against Cardi B, Adele, Demi Lovato, SZA, and Ariana Grande—despite the fact that Swift engaged none of them and even attempted to quash some of the rumors—and against her former boyfriends Joe Jonas, John Mayer, Calvin Harris, and Jake Gyllenhaal. West has been a significant source of controversy in Swift's public image.

Knibbs commented that Swift was a "country music princess on the verge of superstardom" in 2009, became a "snake" in 2016, and returned as a "full-blown music juggernaut" after 2019, providing an excellent "case study for the ups and downs of modern pop stardom". Swift has attempted to avoid overexposure since 2017, and has often mocked the media in her music; she sold supplementary magazines inspired by Reputation at Target with sarcastic comments about her life mimicking gossip headlines. According to Carter Sherman of Vice, after viewing Swift as a "villain" from 2016 to 2018, growing self-awareness in the media helped popular culture undergo a "Great Swift Revival" in 2020, healing her public image. Swift, however, continued to receive extensive scrutiny well into the 2020s decade, which prompted Mary Kate Carr of The A.V. Club to conclude there is a "Taylor Swift-shaped hole" in media coverage, where journalists forgo ethics when discussing Swift.

Kanye West feud

Kanye West taking the microphone from Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, with Taylor Lautner and Shakira in the background

The decade-spanning feud between Swift and West mutually affected their reputations and cultural perception. In September 2009, at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video for her 2009 song "You Belong with Me", becoming the first country singer and one of the youngest artists (age 19) to win a MTV Video Music Award. While Swift was delivering her speech, West climbed the stage, interrupted her, and took her microphone to declare "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!", referring to "Single Ladies" (2008). Swift was then escorted backstage. Beyoncé later won Video of the Year that evening and invited Swift to finish her speech. Nevertheless, West's actions were met with widespread criticism; then-U.S. President Barack Obama called West a "jackass" on television. West issued apologies and blamed his "difficult day" but subsequently recanted. Swift joked about the incident in her Saturday Night Live monologue in November 2009. Swift and West posed together in photographs from the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, and she stated that they had become friends with help from Jay-Z, a mutual friend.

Snake, a term that was used by detractors to ridicule Swift in 2016, became the main visual motif of her 2017 album Reputation.

The feud was re-ignited when West released his 2016 single "Famous", containing the lyrics "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous" in reference to the 2009 incident. West claimed that Swift had approved the lyrics beforehand on a phone call, whereas she said she was not made aware of the second line describing her as a "bitch". He also released a music video for "Famous", incorporating a naked wax doll of Swift, which she dubbed "revenge porn" in 2019. After Swift "shaded" West in her speech following her Album of the Year win for 1989 at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016), talking about not letting detractors take credit for her fame, West's then-wife, Kim Kardashian, released trimmed clips of the Swift–West call on Snapchat that appeared to support West's claim. "#TaylorSwiftisOverParty" became the top trend on Twitter, with viral social media posts calling Swift "fake, calculated, manipulative, a snake, a liar and is not what she seems". Various media criticized, trolled and "cancelled" Swift. The backlash caused Swift to step away from the spotlight for a year, avoiding being seen by the press until the 2017 release of Reputation, which was partially inspired by the controversy. It was not until 2020 that the full, unedited footage of the call leaked, proving Swift had not lied, resulting in "#KanyeWestisOverParty" becoming the top Twitter trend.

The BBC called it the "music's most notorious on-off feud". Jones pinpointed her overexposure during the Red and 1989 album cycles as the reason why the media easily "turned against" her in 2016, such as an opinion piece from Vice's Grace Medford that attributed Swift's later success to her "vilifying" West. However, after 2020, media outlets began praising Swift for standing her ground. Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian wrote in 2023 that Swift had become "immune to hate" and re-established herself as the world's favorite popstar.

Privacy, stalking and jet usage

Swift is frequently mobbed, mostly by fans and paparazzi. She has spoken about her lack of privacy and that she is "highly aware of the fact that that is not normal." In 2015, Swift's fans swarmed the Narita International Airport in Chiba, Japan, when she landed there, causing flight delays. Swift has experienced numerous instances of house break-in and stalkers across her U.S. homes and locations; some of the stalkers have also been armed during their pursuits. Swift has received death and rape threats as well. She has won restraining orders against various individuals designated as stalkers. In 2019, she said she carries "QuikClot army grade bandage dressing" with her for gunshots or stab wounds.

Swift's private jet use has drawn scrutiny and criticism for its carbon emissions after media outlets cited a 2022 report which was compiled based on data posted by the now-defunct Twitter account @CelebJets. In response, a spokesperson for Swift stated that she had purchased more than double the required carbon credits to offset all tour travel and flights to visit Kelce. In December 2023, Swift's lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to American programmer Jack Sweeney, the person who owned the jet-tracking accounts, alleging stalking and safety risks; media outlets have reported that the information posted by Sweeney is a synthesis of publicly available data. It was reported in 2024 that Swift sold one of the two jets she owned.

Conspiracy theories

American artist Zeena LaVey, pictured in 1989.

Swift has been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories. One such theory that originated online in the 2010s claims that she is a clone of the American artist and former satanist Zeena LaVey, daughter of the founder of the Church of Satan, an allegation based on Swift's apparent physical similarity to LaVey. Swift's use of gothic elements in some of her performances has drawn accusations of witchcraft from the right wing.

A political conspiracy theory about Swift in the U.S., popular amongst Republican and conservative thinkers, is that she is a "Pentagon psy-op" employed by the Democrat-led U.S. federal government to control public opinion. Prior to her open support of Democratic candidates in 2018, some alt-right internet users theorized that Swift was a neo-Nazi "Aryan princess" with a white supremacist agenda. However, Swift has criticized racism and white supremacy.

A small faction of Swift's own fans, called Gaylors, have purported claims that Swift is romantically involved with other women but closeted due to societal expectations, based on their interpretations of her music, lyrics and aesthetics. Journalists have largely dismissed it as a baseless, parasocial conspiracy theory, infringing on her private life.

Sex and femininity

A wax figure of Swift at Madame Tussauds Sydney; she is a popular inspiration for upcoming artists, especially for women in music.

Swift, who identifies as pro-choice, is a feminist figure in the media. Her career has been studied to understand its feminist aspects. She has criticized the way media depicts women; for example, in an appearance on the show Tout le monde en parle, Swift stated she "couldn't stand the way media portrays young women as rivals rather than allies." She has regularly donated to various feminist causes and women's empowerment programs. According to a 2023 survey by Morning Consult, 52% of Swift's U.S. fans are women, while 48% are men.

Dating life

See also: Swifties § Gaylor

Swift's romantic life is highly publicized. Her dating life has been a subject of tabloid scrutiny and has thus prompted some pop culture news outlets to slut-shame her. The media enjoys guessing the celebrity inspiration behind Swift's songs, in the words of Rosen, who wrote that outlets maligned Swift "as a serial kisser-and-teller, as an entitled rich kid, as a mean girl with a victim complex", attributing it partly to the "shrill" tone of Swift's early songs. However, Rosen also stated that there is "a sexist double standard in the policing of Swift's confessions, especially when you consider the routine misogyny in the songs of rockers, rappers, and woebegone beardy indie balladeers." Some media outlets and journalists are also noted for their bias, frequently vilifying Swift for clickbait or to gain readership, capitalizing on consumer interest in "juicy" details about Swift's life.

Target of misogyny

More songs are about love than anything else — how wonderful it is when it begins, and how deeply painful it can be when it ends. Taylor Swift did not invent this idea. People have been singing songs about broken hearts as long as music and broken hearts have existed, and her male peers aren't questioned in quite the same way she is. Heartbroken girls are labeled as whiny in our society, while heartbroken guys are endearing and lovable. And it sucks.

— Nicole Pomarico, "Taylor's Pointing Out Sexism in The Music Industry", Bustle

Journalists have reported on the intense misogyny and slut-shaming directed at Swift, who has been vocal in condemning all forms of sexism. She highlighted misogynistic language used against her in tabloids and headlines, as well as sexist comments discrediting her achievements. She stated that her "dating life has become a bit of a national pastime" and does not appreciate the "Careful, Bro, She'll Write a Song About You" trope as it "trivializes" her artistry. Some opined Swift is an easy target for male derision, triggering "fragile male egos", and that she "infuriates male critics by not looking like a sexpot", challenging the male gaze. According to Rosen, some media and public censure Swift's "acidic" lyrics about former partners while praising male artists like Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Drake for the same, revealing the double standards. Several former detractors of Swift have blamed their subconscious misogyny. The Daily Telegraph opined that Swift's antennae for sexism are crucial for the industry.

In various media, Swift has been the subject of comments, "jokes", punch lines and memes that have been perceived as sexist. The New Feminist highlights, apart from sexist men, several women also channel their internalized misogyny towards Swift. At the 70th Golden Globe Awards (January 2013), hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered a joke about Swift, following tabloid news that week that claimed Swift had broken up with Connor Kennedy; Fey said that given Swift's "interest in famous guys", she should stay away from actor Michael J. Fox's son, who was escorting the award winners off the stage that evening. Poehler disagreed and said "Swift should go for it", to which Fey retorted. The joke was the subject of viral news coverage. Fey also had a history of joking about Swift's dating life. Two months later, when Vanity Fair asked about Fey and Poehler, Swift quoted Madeleine Albright: "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." She subsequently elaborated:

"For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her, I think that's taking something that potentially should be celebrated—a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way—that's taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist."

In June 2013, American retail company Abercrombie & Fitch sold shirts saying "More Boyfriends than T.S." After backlash from Swift's fans, the retailer withdrew them. Westboro Baptist Church leader Ben Phelps called Swift the "poster child for the young whores of doomed America", accusing her of "fornication and sin-coddling songs", and announced plans to protest at her concert. In October 2014, on Australian radio show Jules, Merrick & Sophie, Swift stated she is "unfairly criticized" for her lyrics compared to her male peers:

"You're going to have people who are going to say, 'Oh, you know, like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends.' And I think frankly that's a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They're all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there."

In a 2016 interview, when asked what advice she would give her 19-year-old self, Swift replied, "Hey, you're going to date just like a normal twenty-something should be allowed to, but you're going to be a national lightning rod for slut-shaming." In a 2019 interview with New Zealand DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Swift stated that the slut-shaming "happened to [her] at a very young age, so that was a bit hard. That was one of the first times [she] was like—Wow, this is not fair." In the article "Why women say sorry too much and what to say — and do — instead" for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Kate Midena highlighted Swift's comments on her struggles to "deprogram the misogyny in my own brain" in Miss Americana. Midena wrote that being trained to say sorry is "a conundrum women have been stuck in since the middle ages" and that girls are often taught to value empathy over "masculine traits" such as strength and assertiveness, and hence they "feel the need to cushion their actions with an apology".

Taylor Swift

@taylorswift13

Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard-working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn't look cute on you. Happy Women's History Month I guess

March 1, 2021

In March 2021, Swift criticized the writers of Netflix series Ginny & Georgia for using a "lazy, deeply sexist joke" slut-shaming her. Beth Ashley of Grazia wrote sexism is why male celebrities like Pete Davidson are celebrated for his dating history, while Swift is "shamed and shunned". In 2024, Ekta Sinha of Elle attributed much of the criticism and vitriol Swift has historically received to the fact that the majority of her audience are women; she said "men love hating on the things women enjoy", citing Barbie (2023) and the South Korean boy group BTS as further examples.

In a controversial June 2024 Newsweek opinion piece, writer John Mac Ghlionn questioned if Swift is a good role model for girls as she is "unmarried and childless" at age 34. It was criticized as misogynistic, with the Evening Standard's Claire Cohen saying "if Swift was married with children, she'd be criticised for leaving her family at home while she selfishly went on tour and accused of emasculating her husband by being the breadwinner." Arwa Mahdavi of The Guardian wrote, "this extraordinarily misogynistic piece is noteworthy because it reflects the manosphere's toxic obsession with Swift... There's nothing insecure men love more than trying to bring successful women down a peg or two."

Sexual harassment

Main articles: Taylor Swift sexual assault trial and Taylor Swift deepfake pornography controversy

In August 2017, a sexual assault trial was held in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, involving former DJ David Mueller, a KYGO-FM radio employee, who filed for defamation against Swift. He claimed she had him wrongfully terminated following an incident at a 2013 meet-and-greet, in which Swift posed for a photo with Mueller. Swift alleged Mueller reached under her skirt and grabbed her buttocks in the photo. Mueller was escorted out of the concert once Swift reported it to her mother and team. The incident was reported to KYGO, and Mueller was fired shortly thereafter. He sued Swift for defamation in September 2015, claiming he never touched Swift under her skirt and that he lost his job and reputation due to her false claims. Swift counter-sued Mueller for battery and sexual assault, seeking $1 in damages. The jury ruled in Swift's favor.

The trial was a subject of wide media attention due to Swift's status as a high-profile celebrity. In a post-trial statement, Swift revealed she counter-sued Mueller to empower other victims of sexual assault. The BBC stated that the trial was culturally significant as it highlighted the underreporting of sexual assaults, Swift's refusal to back down even though the defense lawyers attempted to discredit her, and the symbolic $1 damages. Brand strategists said that Swift "has been not only trying to empower ordinary women that she doesn't know but also music industry colleagues" with the case. Public relations expert Marvet Britto stated that Swift "is aware that her defiance in fighting against these allegations—not only made toward her but other artists and colleagues—will achieve global visibility around sexual assault issues that, in many cases, go unreported and ignored and are marginalized." In December 2017, Swift was named a "Silence Breaker" in Time magazine's Person of the Year issue. Elle described the trial as a landmark case "aiming to not bankrupt the perpetrator, but to set a precedent for other artists and women around the world to speak up and hold predators accountable for the irreparable damage they cause." Additionally, Swift donated $250,000 to American singer Kesha in 2016 to assist her with the legal fees for her sexual assault case, and further donation to the Joyful Heart Foundation for survivors of sexual assault in 2017.

In January 2024, AI-generated deepfake pornographic images portraying Swift spread across multiple social media platforms, provoking criticism and calls for legislative reform from the White House and SAG-AFTRA. Twitter suspended several accounts that posted the controversial images, with one tweet of the screenshot of the images receiving over 47 million views before the account was finally suspended. Twitter also temporarily blocked searches of "Taylor Swift" on the platform. U.S. Senators Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Amy Klobuchar and Josh Hawley subsequently introduced the DEFIANCE (Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edit) Act to federally prohibit digitally forged media that depict an identifiable person without their consent.

Feminist perspectives

Swift is credited with shaping the career trajectories of female country artists such as (from left to right) Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Kelsea Ballerini.

Critics have noted Swift's musical style resonating in albums released by female country singers like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Swift's onstage guitar performances contributed to the Taylor Swift effect—a phenomenon to which upsurge in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. According to Todd Cassetty, president of Cassetty Entertainment, "everybody was trying to mimic" Swift and that many young women "were inspired to pick up a guitar" because of her.

"There's her odd brand of beauty, part Barbie, part Southern belle: Swift's career has always seen her playing with the tropes of femininity—the homecoming queen, the fairy nymph, the socialite—only to subvert them with a goofy charm."

— Jo Ellison, "Why I believe in Taylor Swift", Financial Times

Journalists Shah Ezayadi and Raza-Sheikh attributed much of Swift's commercial success with making her young female audience feel "understood"; the latter opined that Swift is a cultural litmus test: "can we begin to respect art created by famous women, particularly when it explores love stories and womanhood?" Kayla Bartsch of National Review attributed Swift's stardom to "her unmatched ability to capture the essence of the modern woman." According to Time journalist Sam Lansky, Swift allows "people, many of them women, particularly girls, who have been conditioned to accept dismissal, gaslighting, and mistreatment from a society that treats their emotions as inconsequential" to believe that their emotions and thoughts matter.

Swift performing "Treacherous" (2012) at the Red Tour (2013); critics note it as one of Swift's first songs to have sensual lyrics about sex.

Feminism is a core aspect of Swift's discography, particularly since 2014. According to Rosen, Swift existed on the modest, "Victorian" end of the feminist spectrum, compared to pop stars like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus, who "represent aggressively sexualized feminist pop, harnessing big beats and skimpy outfits to work through questions of power and self-determination"; however, Swift's songs "aren't totally chaste: Sex is there in the rush and flush of the music, and it peeks through, discreetly, in the lyrics."

Matthew Green, professor of literature at the University of Nottingham, felt that Swift has transformed tropes of "monstrous femininity—the lamia, the witch, the madwoman—into symbols of empowerment." Film scholar Barbara Creed of the University of Melbourne agreed, claiming Swift's misogynistic experiences led her to embrace her "monstrous-feminine" abjection while "questioning patriarchy, anthropocentrism, misogyny and the meaning of the human". Examples of Swift's songs that address feminist themes include "I Did Something Bad" (2017), "The Man" (2019), "The Last Great American Dynasty" (2020), "Mad Woman" (2020), "Vigilante Shit" (2022), and "Would've, Could've, Should've" (2022). Songs such as "Nothing New" (2021), "Castles Crumbling" (2023) and "Slut!" (2023) explored Swift's views on being a woman in the public eye.

Swift played a man (middle) in the music video for "The Man" (2020) to ridicule sexist double standards.

Swift's 2014 single "Blank Space" is a satirical feminist critique of her portrayal in media. The Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti called its music video a "dystopian feminist fairytale", playing into the "annoying, boy-crazy" tropes media projected on Swift. In the music video for "The Man", Swift portrays a male alter-ego named Tyler Swift, presenting several prevalent examples of sexist double standards, including objectification, sexualization, toxic masculinity, and patriarchy. iHeartRadio's Paris Close said it demonstrates "how the hubris of male privilege plays out in the real world".

The artistic reinventions of her career were also examined feministically. Swift said, "The female artists I know of have to remake themselves 20 times more than the male artists, or else you're out of a job" in regards to the music industry "discarding" female pop stars as soon as they reach their mid-30s. The 2020 Prospect article "It's time to face the facts—our male pop stars need to try a bit harder" pointed out the requirement for female pop stars to be "highly visual, and to change that visual often". Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic of The New York Times, considered Swift's "hamster wheel of constant reinvention" a meta-commentary on the expectation that female pop stars "unveil new versions of themselves for our viewing pleasure, one-upping their old image with new wardrobes ad infinitum", while male pop stars do not change much. Jeff Nelson of People opined Swift "has taken a hammer to that glass ceiling, shattering expectations—and blazing a path for the next generation of female artists."

In a contradictory perspective, even though Swift described herself as a feminist, her 2014–2015 public appearances and social media posts with female singers and fashion models whom the media called her "squad" gave some the impression that she did so to keep her name afloat in media. A number of critics claimed Swift's feminism lacks intersectionality, causing her to come off as a white feminist whose "clique was really just an exclusive group of mostly white actresses and supermodels." In light of a variety of criticism Swift has received in the media, author Jennifer Weiner opined that "everything" being Swift's "fault" is an example for how "it's impossible for any woman—whether superstar or mere mortal—to get it right", referring to the scrutiny Swift has received for the demeanors of her former partners, her private jet in regards to climate change, white feminism, "sins of capitalism", and even "mutant cats"—her Scottish Fold pet cats have "boosted the breed's popularity, causing unscrupulous opportunists to over-breed them, which resulted in unfortunate genetic mutations."

Physical appearance

Fashion

Main article: Fashion of Taylor Swift

Swift's fashion is widely covered by fashion journalists, and her street style has received acclaim from critics. She has reinvented her image and aesthetic throughout her career, matching respective album cycles with distinct themes and influencing fashion trends in the process. Her "style evolution", both within and outside her music, has been the subject of widespread analyses by media outlets.

Body and wellness

Swift at the 1989 World Tour (2015); she was criticized for being "thin" and "skinny" by some general public and a number of media outlets, unbeknownst to whom she was suffering from an eating disorder.

Swift has frequently received body shaming comments from media outlets and on social media, criticizing or scrutinizing her physical appearance especially when she was considered "skinny" in 2014 and when she gained weight between 2017 and 2019. She has been vocal about the impact of such press coverage on personal health, discussing issues such as eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia athletica, self-esteem, and cyberbullying. Swift stated in Miss Americana that she used to "starve" herself while working out excessively after reading articles describing her as pregnant based on photographs in which her stomach looked "big", a confession that precipitated responses from and discussions on mental health amongst the public.

There's always some standard of beauty that you're not meeting. Because if you're thin enough, then you don't have that ass that everybody wants, but if you have enough weight on you to have an ass, then your stomach isn't flat enough. It's all just fucking impossible.

— Swift in Miss Americana, "Taylor Swift discloses fight with eating disorder in new documentary", The Guardian

The Daily Targum noted that despite being an expert in handling negative criticism, even Swift "succumbed to insecurities that blossomed into eating problems, which shows how even the strongest among us are susceptible to potential eating disorders due to the toxic environment of social media". Jessica Gold, professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, commented, "when our political leaders are struggling to build consensus on and convey the gravity of issues" like mental health, Swift is sending a powerful message by opening up about her issues—"one that is likely to save lives in myriad ways". Ellen Ricks of HelloGiggles called Swift's reveal of her disorder inspirational, noting "how it can potentially impact so many people still fighting", as "there is still so much stigma and misinformation" surrounding it. Discussing Miss Americana, writer Elana Fishman confessed, "every so often, I'll still catch myself criticizing the way my tummy or legs look in a photo or how a certain pair of pants fits me. From now on, whenever that happens, I'll be repeating a line Swift says in the film: 'We do not do that anymore, because it's better to think you look fat than to look sick'". Miss Americana also prompted critics of Swift to respond, such as comedian Nikki Glaser, who said her comments about being skinny came from a place of insecurity. Journalist Richard S. Hé stated the intention of their 2016 Vice article "Taylor Swift Isn't Like Other Celebrities, She's Worse" was to "deconstruct the pettiness of the celebrity–industrial complex" but regretted it could have been unduly critical of Swift.

A scene from the music video of "Anti-Hero" (2022) depicts Swift's body dysmorphia resulting from the eating disorder.

A scene in the music video for Swift's 2022 single "Anti-Hero", which depicts alter egos of Swift interacting with each other—a depressed and homely Swift stepping on a bathroom scale that reads "fat", making the glamorous popstar Swift shake her head in disapproval—invoked a mixed response on social media, where some accused Swift of fatphobia. An opinion on The Cut said the scene "reinforces the idea of being ‘fat' as bad". Several others defended Swift; journalists in The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph, and television shows like The View sided with Swift, arguing that, given her history with an eating disorder, she should not have to "sanitize" her psychological trauma to make her art "digestible" for audiences. They claimed that video illustrates "the warped workings of her brain back when she was in the throes of an eating disorder". The video was however edited to remove the controversial word "fat", which also sparked criticism. Maya Georgi of NBC News questioned why Swift has "once again, let criticism control her actions", feeling the scene demonstrated "the damage the rhetoric of valuing thinness and demonizing larger bodies has done" to Swift and other women. Tomás Mier of Rolling Stone wrote Swift "had to water down her artistic expression and how she chose to portray her lived experience".

Politics

Main article: Political impact of Taylor Swift

Swift's political views have a significant influence on her public image. Political journalists and authors note Swift as a powerful personality, particularly in American politics, often described as the most influential musician politically. She has used her fame to incite political action. Governmental figures outside the U.S. have also shown admiration for Swift, such as Gabriel Boric, President of Chile; Pita Limjaroenrat, member of the House of Representatives of Thailand; Leni Robredo, former Vice President of the Philippines; Liz Truss, former Prime Minister of the U.K.; William, Prince of Wales; and Mexican Supreme Court justice Arturo Zaldivar. Organizations such as the European Union have acknowledged her political influence.

Sports

Swift has affected sports culture, particularly since 2023. Various sports teams, organizations, franchises and venues have profited vastly from Swift. She has been named as a role model by a number of athletes and sportspersons at-large, such as Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Butler, Rob Gronkowski, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Jessica Korda, Sarah Nurse, Mikaela Shiffrin, Iga Świątek, Russell Westbrook, Emma Weyant, and Serena Williams.

American football player Travis Kelce

Around August 2023, Swift began dating American football player Travis Kelce. The romantic relationship has had a cultural impact, about which Billboard opined that the two "are arguably the world's most high-profile couple right now, consistently making headlines on the daily for simply holding hands or enjoying dinner together." The NFL games Swift attended of Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, broke numerous viewership records, including record high female viewership. The NFL and NBC Sports used the relationship for social media content and to promote subsequent games; skin care brand Cetaphil aired a Super Bowl commercial referencing Swift's role in widening the league's appeal to female audiences.

Pop culture commentators and journalists began describing Swift and Kelce as a supercouple, often as America's very own "royal couple". Emily Yahr opined in The New York Times that the U.S. "giddily contemplates" the pairing of Swift and Kelce that, "for many observers, checks all the right boxes", whereas Andrew Unterbeger opined that the pair resulted in a "near-100% public approval" because "it just felt right: the All-American athlete dating the All-American pop star." Robert Armstrong of Financial Times described Kelce as a royal consort and "the most important boyfriend in the world; perhaps the most important boyfriend in all of human history." A television special by Nightline about the relationship and its impact, titled Taylor + Travis, was released on Hulu in November 2023. Dressing up as Swift and Kelce was a trend during Halloween 2023. Kyle Chayaka of The New Yorker wrote, "The narrative, admittedly, was almost too neat: America's sweetheart dating the national equivalent of a homecoming king".

Some of the records broken by the games attended by Swift include:

• Chiefs–Chicago Bears on September 24, 2023: 24.32 million viewers on Fox Sports, the most television viewers of the weekend.
• Chiefs–New York Jets on October 1, 2023: 27 million viewers across all NBC broadcasts, making it the most-watched Sunday-night television show since Super Bowl LVII.
• Chiefs–Buffalo Bills on January 21, 2024: 50.393 million viewers, marking the most-watched NFL divisional playoff game ever and the most-watched program on any network since Super Bowl LVII.
• Chiefs–Baltimore Ravens on January 28, 2024: 55.5 million viewers, marking the most watched AFC Championship Game of all time.
• Chiefs–San Francisco 49ers (Super Bowl LVIII) on February 11, 2024: 123.4 million viewers on CBS/Paramount+ and 202.4 million total viewers, marking the most watched non-news telecast of all time and the most watched broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Generational appeal

Swift is frequently compared to 20th-century singers like Bruce Springsteen (left) and Bob Dylan (right) in terms of generational impact.

Critical commentary has used Swift's career to mark a paradigm shift in popular culture, regarding her as a millennial cultural figure. According to Rosen, Swift is a "generational bard", merging "the pleasures of old-fashioned songcraft with millennial social-media oversharing." Psychiatrist Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell opined that Swift is the generational poet laureate who has a song for every precise emotion of a listener. Bartsch described Swift as a philosopher. A 2023 survey reported Swift had the most positive impact on the youth's mental health amongst all the music acts.

American author Neil Howe, who coined the term "millennial", named Swift as the classic example of millennial spirit. In 2010, The Christian Science Monitor commentators Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais opined that Swift's rise to fame signals the "musical coming-of-age" of the millennial generation and that "it's only a matter of time before Swift and her generation make over America's music as triumphantly as they did its politics with the election of President Obama." Awarding Swift for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady of the U.S., Michelle Obama, described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish".

Pakistani educationist Malala Yousafzai dubbed Swift an inspiration for girls. Yousafzai said that she and her friends in Swat District drew strength and comfort from Swift's music when music was forbidden.

In 2014, Quartz's John McDuling said Swift was "quickly becoming the most influential artist of her generation", and pondered if she is the millennial equivalent to Dylan, Springsteen, or Kurt Cobain. National Post opined that 1989—an album created by a millennial for millennials—"lays claim to an entire generation", as average millennials "are constantly exposed to criticism and heavy dialog" like Swift, all of which is embodied by Swift's music. The newspaper considered "New Romantics" (2016) as a millennial ode.

According to a 2019 YPulse survey, Swift is the musician who best-represents millennials (ages 19–37). She represents "millennial anxiety" according to The Walrus's Joelle Kidd, who wrote that millennials have a tendency of "obsessive self-analysis" that Swift has grown to embody, sharing her anxieties with the generation. Some journalists have described The Tortured Poets Department as a study of millennial "misery" and "despair". Today senior editor Elena Nicolaou noted how Swift culturally transformed millennial weddings as well.

Many critics discuss the "millennial cringe" as a part of Swift's appeal. Journalist Brittany Spanos stated that despite Generation Z forming a significant portion of Swift's newer fans, they do not "really understand the cultural history, the sociopolitical and cultural elements that have molded Taylor as a millennial woman because they grew up after that". As a result, some of Generation Z may view some older Swift songs and lyrics as cringe. Helen Lewis of The Atlantic dubbed Swift the "Queen of Cringe". Kayla Kibbe of Cosmopolitan applied a feminist perspective, associating Swift's exploration of cringe in her artistry as a response to the trivialisation of women's emotions, especially heartbreak and anger. Swift's commencement speech at the 2022 New York University graduation ceremony about cringe was positively received by journalists.

Vox and The New Yorker called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen", drawing numerous artistic and sociopolitical parallels between Swift and Springsteen's careers. Similarly, The Times named Swift "the Bob Dylan of our age" in 2022 and "the confessional queen of Noughties pop". Journalists have also noted Swift's rising success within baby boomers and Generation X, known as "senior Swifties". Alexandra Spring of ABC News opined that Swift's "lovelorn ballads, kitchen bops and revenge anthems" appeal "intensely" to the middle-aged, Gen X generation, who also relate to Swift in terms of navigating the world professionally and culturally. As per Morning Consult, 45% of Swift's U.S. fans are millennials, 23% are baby boomers, 21% are Generation X, and 11% are Generation Z.

See also

• Women in music
• Likeability trap, a campaign tactic often targeted to women
• High Watch and Samuel Goldwyn Estate, two of Swift's high-profile residences

References

Cited literature

• Fischer, Nancy; Seidman, Steven (2016). Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-44918-8. OCLC 953030187.
• Franssen, Gaston (January 2, 2022). "Policing the celebrity of Taylor Swift: introduction". Celebrity Studies. 13 (1): 90–92. doi:10.1080/19392397.2022.2026148. S2CID 246997248.
• Marwick, Alice; Boyd, Danah (May 19, 2011). "To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter". Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 17 (2): 154. doi:10.1177/1354856510394539. ISSN 1354-8565. S2CID 16682760. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.