I’m a big sports fan. I write about it. I watch it. I have done so since I was old enough to see a huge guy dunk a basketball as a small child. And if there is one thing I have always appreciated is when someone I think is interesting or famous watches the same teams as I do. It’s like finding out that actor you like is also a fan of a band you love. It connects you in a very specific way.
Which is why I truly do not understand the vitriol some people have about Taylor Swift and her appearances at Kansas City Chiefs games. You’ve got idiots like former Green Bay quarterback Brett Farve calling it “bad for football” and social media meatheads angry they might catch a glimpse of the pop star’s face on the broadcast during the game.
Sure, some of this can be explained away by simple toxic masculinity. It’s real and it is as loud as Arrowhead Stadium during a playoff game. But, Swift has always been a polarizing figure in music and popular culture. And I have a hard time understanding exactly why.
It reminds me of Guy Fieri, the celebrity chef and host of Divers, Dine-Ins and Drives on the Food Network. People really hate him and comedian Shane Torres is as confused by that as me:
I’m sure some people consider Swift to be trite musically, but they would be wrong and even if they were right and her artistry fit somewhere in the pantheon of music between the Spice Girls and “Disco Duck,” she still wouldn’t deserve the kind of hate people seem to dump on her.
Take for a moment the fact that she, rather quietly, in fact, gave millions of dollars to food banks in virtually every city on the Eras Tour, or that she gave everyone on her tour from the managers to the T-shirt sales people six-figure bonuses for jobs well done.
If that weren’t enough, she literally re-recorded her entire early career catalog so she could use her own material the way she wanted instead of cowering to a bunch of venture capital douchebags who wanted to decide for her. It shifted the thinking among MANY artists who don’t own their masters but would like to reap the benefits of their hard labor. She even hired all the same people and paid them AGAIN.
Yet, do a search for her on X and you would think that she is pregnant with the antichrist.
And, honestly, I’m worn out by it. I’m not really even a fan of Swift. I have casually listened to her in passing. I do like the song “Style,” which I have long suspected is a clever pop spin on the Who’s “Eminence Front,” but you would never accuse me of being a fan. (And if you see me in a Tay-Tay hoodie, that was a gift from my goddaughter and her mom…and it’s super warm, you guys.)
My point is that she’s just a musician. Yes, a very famous musician, but still just a musician. You don’t have to like her anymore than you have to like Nickelback or Drake or Beyonce (on second thought, we might all have to like Beyonce). But do you have to hate her, because she has a boyfriend who plays football and she likes to cheer for him? Because TV execs put her on camera too often during games?
If you do truly hate her, you may want to examine that because it certainly feels like an overreaction to be personally offended by someone you don’t know and probably never will. If other people like her, let them. If you don’t, that’s totally fine.
Being a jerk about it doesn’t make you smarter or cooler or better than anyone. It just makes you a jerk.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
