“She had a marvelous time ruining everything.”
Taylor Swift has been a controversial topic for as long as I can remember—ever since she called Joe Jonas out for breaking up with her over a 28-second phone call, name-dropped John Mayer on her Speak Now album, since Kanye ran on stage, and since she kissed Harry Styles as the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball dropped. Trust me, I am well-versed in the history and actions of Swift, and the hypocrisy never made sense to me.
I have been present for nearly every album release. I stood by quietly with my headphones on while everyone around me discussed how, once again, Taylor Swift had disappointed them. Then, when the next album came out, I watched them rave about how good the previous album was and how badly they missed that era.
After she released 1989 in 2014, she went through a massive scandal (later revealed as a setup), was labeled a snake, had her comment section bombarded with the hashtag “#taylorswiftisoverparty,” and was bullied into a two-year hiatus. When Reputation came out in 2017, and Swift declared that the old Taylor was “dead”, everyone wanted her back. When Folklore came out in 2020, people online called it boring. Now, they call it a lyrical masterpiece. It is a never-ending, exhausting loop of unfair standards.
They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one
Hating Taylor Swift is boring. It’s uninspired. Especially in 2026, when women are attacked and ridiculed daily, and men are let off the hook for things far worse than writing a song about a city in Ohio. As women, we need to uplift each other, not pick each other apart. I am not trying to argue Swift’s sainthood, though I could go on about the work she has done to pave the way for all your current favorite female artists. I aim to shine a light on the reality and consequences of hateful language and actions towards a successful female singer, songwriter, director, and entrepreneur.
When you publicly share your disdain for Swift, you don’t hurt her. You aren’t taking money out of her pocket, reducing her Grammy collection, or stopping her from writing and singing. She doesn’t care. In fact, on her album, The Tortured Poets Department (hated by many, of course), she sang, “I’ll tell you something about my good name, it’s mine alone to disgrace. I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing.”
On multiple occasions, and in multiple songs, she has expressed that she isn’t fazed by people’s opinions of her. She writes songs because she loves creating. If she didn’t, one would think she’d take her earnings and go to the lakes, never to be seen again.
All you do when screaming from the rafters that you “hate Taylor Swift” is bash art someone else loves. You are not hurting Swift. You are hurting a little girl whose mom ran to Target after work to buy her the Red album the day it came out. You are hurting the same girl whose dad was in Ticketmaster queues for two days straight so that she could finally hear her favorite song live. You are making that girl feel like she cannot safely express her love for something that makes her happy out loud.
If i were a man, i’d be the man
If you have a fundamental difference in belief from Swift, then respectfully address it if you feel the need. That’s not happening, though. People are taking the hate too far and going out of their way to leave negative comments on anything they find. On an Instagram post alerting fans of the release of The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, one person commented, “The devil herself.” And on a similar post, “Ugh… the horrors persist.” My personal favorite comment is, “I didn’t even hear it, and my ears are bleeding.”
If you believe that Taylor Swift should be more philanthropic, fine, sure. However, take a look at what she has done. She could donate a million dollars to every cause you support, and people would still say, “She could’ve donated two million.” She’s fighting a never-ending battle. Someone will always want more.
Saying that Swift’s music has gotten worse because she married Travis Kelce is like saying a woman is only as talented as the man she is with at the moment. When Swift was writing The Tortured Poets Department, she was going through a breakup and was clearly depressed. She has stated that at the time, she was the saddest she’s ever been. She also happened to be at the peak of her career.
In her song, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” Swift reflected on her experience on the Eras Tour with the lyrics, “All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting ‘more.'” The idea that people only love her when she is at her worst is incredibly damaging. Just like you are allowed to hate her music, Swift is allowed to write and release whatever music she wants. If you don’t like or relate to it, don’t add it to your playlist. It is not fair to reduce a successful woman’s art to the men she’s with.
At some point, it became trendy to dislike Swift. Maybe it was because she was putting out music about the female relationship experience, and that was frowned upon in a male-dominated field. Nevertheless, people latched onto it to the point where hating Swift is no longer controversial; it’s the standard.
Music is art. Art is subjective. Everyone in the world is going to listen to a song and experience it differently. That’s the beauty of art. You are allowed to dislike a song, an album, an entire artist. There is no problem with that. The problem arises when you “yuck someone else’s yum” unnecessarily. No one needs to have the same opinion as the person next to them, but everyone should respect other opinions.
Who cares if you think Swift’s new songs are bad? You don’t have to like every song she puts out, but what good does it do to make sure other people know you don’t like them? Have your opinions, but also understand when it’s not productive to share them.