Taylor Swift’s Squad Receives Backlash For Becoming ‘Cult-Like’
Taylor Swift has been making news with her squad for the past few months. She’s been creating “squad goals” by featuring her friends in her concerts or on her Instagram page. Taylor even brought some of her “Bad Blood” squad to the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
But Taylor Swift’s squad is getting slammed left and right. Two recent reports via the New York Post and News.com.au claim that her group of model and actor friends are looking more like a “cult” rather than a normal group of friends. Both news reports noted how similar most of Swift’s friends look.
“It’s about more than just the fact that they all look similar — though it is eerie how tall, thin and polished most of Swift’s friends are.”
The reports also note how Taylor didn’t pay her friends to appear in her “Bad Blood” video. What they do get in return is becoming famous for being Taylor Swift’s best friends. Karlie Kloss now has her own cooking channel on YouTube while Hailee Steinfeld has a blossoming singing career and Gigi Hadid has graced the covers of magazines and starred in Calvin Harris’ new video for “How Deep Is Your Love.”
At one of her 1989 concerts, Swift told her fans that being her friend is easy. “You have to like me, and you have to want to spend time with me.”
But according to the reports, Swift’s friends must not only add dimensions to her good-girl image, but also praise her in interviews and live events. Serayah, star of Empire, gave Swift a shout-out on stage when she was presenting an award.
The actress claims that being in Taylor Swift’s squad is no different from hanging out with another group of girlfriends.
“We all hang out. We get together and we go eat and go to late-night cafes. I think people think it’s this celebrity gathering, but it’s just a bunch of girls, hanging out.”
There is one pop star, besides Katy Perry, who has no interest in being in Swift’s squad. Miley Cyrus told the New York Times that she has no interest in being friends with famous people.
“I’m not trying to be in the squad. None of my friends are famous and not because of any other reason than I just like real people who are living real lives, because I’m inspired by them.”
Swift’s squad is probably receiving backlash because the singer handles her image and business decisions with an iron fist. According to the New York Post, Swift has a “Stalin-like control” over her pop peers, which seems to mean she’ll make a song or a video for anyone who will diss her or her squad. She already did it when she wrote “Bad Blood,” which is allegedly about Perry.
Do you agree that Taylor Swift’s squad appears cult-like? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
[Image: Christopher Polk/Getty Images]
