Taylor Swift Slammed For Promoting Music Amid Immigration Ban Protests

Taylor Swift’s fans do not think now is the time to be talking about new music. The singer seems super focused on promoting her new song “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” featuring pop star, Zayn Malik. Though their video dropped last week, the singer has been actively promoting the song on all her social media accounts.

On the other hand, it could be horrible timing due to the current events going on in the world. Donald Trump signed the travel ban last week, which has offended and scared many Americans and green card holders and has caused massive protests across the country. Many celebrities, public figures, and government officials have taken to social media to speak out against the Muslim ban.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has been actively promoting her new music video on social media and hasn’t made any reference to what’s been going on in the world. According to a report via Hollywood.com, this very tweet is what set off most of Swift’s fans over the weekend.

Swift has kept silent about politics even though she’s a self-proclaimed feminist. She did not discuss who she voted for, nor did she support either candidate on social media. On Election Day, she posted a photo of herself looking rather exhausted while telling her fans to go out and vote. Swift has every right to stay quiet on politics, but she shouldn’t act like there’s nothing else going on in the world.

honey this is not the right time to promote

— v ?? (@uneunwon) January 29, 2017

hey Taylor I think it would be really great if right now you used your enormous power to support muslims and immigrants.

— Summer Anne Burton (@summeranne) January 29, 2017

Even actresses Shannon Woodward and Rowan Blanchard have spoken out against celebrities who have chosen to be silent while major issues continue to plague our country.

This isn’t the first time that Swift has received backlash for staying silent about politics on social media. Even what she said about the Women’s March angered fans. While millions of people participated in the Women’s March across the globe, including many celebrities, Swift decided to sit it out and tweet her support, according to the Washington Post. Upset fans found her tweet self-serving and opportunistic for attaching her brand to a movement that she did not actively participate in.

While many of Swift’s fans thanked her for speaking out, others slammed her for suddenly opening up about politics on Election Day. The 27-year-old’s silence on her political views has had many fans wondering, “Who is Taylor Swift voting for?” which was a popular Google search term last fall. Swift has remained quiet about her political leanings for most of her career.

“I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people. And I don’t think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for,” she told Time magazine back in 2012.

However, Swift has spoken up about social issues such as feminism and gay rights. She wrote the lyric, “And you can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls.” on her 1989 opening track, “Welcome to New York.” She even tweeted those lyrics when the Supreme Court voted in favor of making gay marriage legal across the nation.

Even the beginning of her 1989 era included an in-depth profile in Rolling Stone, which noted that “earlier in her career, Swift deflected questions about feminism because she didn’t want to alienate male fans. But these days, she’s proud to identify herself as a feminist.”

Many have argued that Swift only promotes “white feminism” as opposed to intersectional feminism. There have been mixed responses as to whether celebrities should speak out about politics or stay quiet on social media. But, in this day and age, it’s hard to escape what’s going on in the world with the nonstop updates on social media. It’s also hard for most people to pretend that everything is okay.

Swift has angered people when she’s stayed and when she vaguely spoke out. It seems like she can’t win either way – and it’s probably too late to even try. It’s probably one of the reasons why Swift has stayed quiet for so long.

Some stans think Taylor can do no wrong…I love Taylor but she should have gone to the march. She shouldn't stay silent on such issues.

— lottie wants to meet Tay? (@swiftcantbreak) January 21, 2017

What are your thoughts? Do you think Taylor Swift should speak out about politics? Or, do you think she should just focus on the music? Sound off below in the comments section.

[Featured image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]