On Sunday, Feb. 4, Taylor Swift won her 13th and 14th Grammy Awards, but from the backlash she’s been receiving on so many social media platforms, you would think she didn’t just win those awards but stole them from someone. Apart from winning, she announced her 11th studio album during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, The Tortured Poets Department, releasing April 19. Swift was nominated for six awards and won two, yet she’s the “Grammys’ darling” and the Grammys are “rigged.”
Swift has been receiving backlash and hate during her entire 18-year career. Kanye’s interruption of her VMAs speech in 2009 created a fan base dedicated to despising her, which was only amplified when an altered phone call was released by Kim Kardashian in 2016. This was the cause for Swift to go into hiding, ultimately inspiring her 2017 album, reputation. Since then, she has released four brand new albums, re-recorded four albums, and now has a new one on the way. Swift’s fan base started to increase with the releases of folklore and evermore, but Midnights and The Eras Tour really made her hit her peak. She was named Person of the Year last year by Time, and her popularity increases daily. But since the Grammys on Sunday night, there has been an outbreak, once again, of Taylor Swift haters.
The first thing I saw that people were hating on Swift for was her “ignoring Céline Dion” after Dion, who attended the ceremony as a special guest presenter, presented her with the Album of the Year (AOTY) award. Viewers were claiming Swift completely ignored Dion when she accepted the award from her, and that she radiates “mean girl energy” because of this. More videos of the night were released in the few hours after the Grammys ended, which included Swift standing, cheering, and singing along to “My Heart Will Go On” when Dion entered the stage, Swift thanking Dion after her acceptance speech to which Dion smiled and said, “You’re welcome,” and pictures of Swift and Dion hugging after they left the stage. Dion even reposted the pictures on TikTok.
Of course, people were going to be disappointed if their favorite artists didn’t win, but people were upset and angry over the fact that Midnights won AOTY. People on TikTok were making videos saying how Swift is undeserving because she has won so many times, and how her music is mediocre at best and only popular because she’s a white woman who makes relatable music for teenage white girls. The records she broke with Midnights speak for themselves; some of which include becoming the most streamed album ever on Spotify in a single day, occupying the Top 10 spots on Billboard’s Top 100 chart, and the most sold vinyl records in a week (575,000). Just because you didn’t like the album or liked another album more doesn’t make Midnights undeserving, and as much as people have been complaining, it won’t take the award away from Swift.
More “mean girl energy” comments were made when Swift brought Lana Del Rey up on stage with her to accept the AOTY award when Del Rey lost the award herself for her album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Swift and Del Rey collaborated on Midnights for “Snow On The Beach,” so Swift might’ve believed they both deserved the award. Once again, Del Rey ended the rumors that she was “clearly upset” with Swift by posting them together on her Instagram. Similar to this, people thought SZA was snubbed for AOTY for her album, SOS. SZA won three Grammys and even said, “I love you, Taylor,” when she was onstage accepting her award for Best R&B Song, and Swift was standing and clapping during SZA’s speech.
Swift announcing her new album during her first acceptance speech also made people angry. There have been criticisms on social media including Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok, with people saying her announcing a new album at the Grammys is comparable to proposing at someone else’s wedding. This uncalled-for criticism would’ve made more sense if she had announced her new album during someone else’s acceptance speech, but she used her allotted time to give something to the fans who gave her so much by streaming and loving Midnights to the point where she won AOTY.
The Grammys this year had so many incredible and outstanding nominations, and no matter who won, people were going to be upset. And to no Swiftie’s surprise, a brand new hate train was created for Swift. Within the past couple of days, the hate has bounced from the “Céline Dion snub” to “dragging” Lana Del Rey on stage to her being an “attention hog” throughout the show, back to, of course, her personal life and what she does outside of her music. The list of reasons Swift is facing backlash now and within the past year goes on.
Even if this new “Taylor hate” makes it easier to get tickets in the future, does that really make going back to 2016 worth it? With everyone hating her and calling her names? I personally don’t think so. To say she has “bad energy” or that announcing a new album at an award show for music is “selfish” isn’t the take Swift-haters think it is. At the end of the day, she is still Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, headlining a sold-out stadium tour, and arguably the most successful musician right now.