Taylor Swift may not be as much of a snake as some people think she is. The “Delicate” singer recently showed her benevolent side when she defended Hayley Kiyoko from attacks from the Swifties, Taylor’s legion of fans. As Us Weekly reported, Swift’s fans were enraged by an interview Hayley, an openly gay musician, gave to Refinery 29. In the interview, she talked about her frustration with record executives questioning her decision to write about her relationships with girls.
“I’ve had several music industry execs say, ‘You’re doing another music video about girls?’”Hayley said. “I literally looked at them and was like, ‘Um, yeah … Taylor Swift sings about men in every single song and video, and no one complains that she’s unoriginal.’”
Lots of Taylor’s fans interpreted the comment as an insult or “shade” towards their favorite artist. But Taylor took to Tumblr to stand up for Kiyoko and show that she did not take offense to it.
“We should applaud artists who are brave enough to tell their honest romantic narrative through their art, and the fact is that I’ve never encountered homophobia and she has,” Taylor wrote in response to a post from a fan that defended Kayley. “It’s her right to call out anyone who has double standards about gay vs straight love interests.”
As Us Weekly noted, critiques about the subject matter of her songs have dogged Taylor Swift’s career for a long time. Many people have criticized her for filling her songs with not-so-veiled references to her ex-boyfriends. Taylor has countered the criticisms by pointing out the sexism of criticizing her for singing about past loves and celebrating male singers, like Bruno Mars, or John Mayer, who do the same
Hayley Kiyoko responds to Taylor Swift’s support: “?? and respect to @taylorswift13 … I appreciate you.” pic.twitter.com/vf9wqmfTUA
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 31, 2018
Swift has been spreading goodwill lately. She recently went back to her roots and performed at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, the place where she was discovered when she was in eighth grade, Elle Magazine reported. The performance was a surprise to patrons, but it was part of the filming of a documentary about the venue. Swift crashed the set of her former collaborator and friend, Craig Wiseman and sang stripped down versions of her songs, “Shake It Off,” and “Love Story.” She also performed “Better Man” by Little Big Town.
Taylor Swift Performs a Surprise Set at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe — and Does a Fireball Shot! https://t.co/GsgjcQMEFe
— People (@people) April 1, 2018
During her performance, Swift thanked The Bluebird Cafe for offering a space for songwriters to sing and explain the inspirations behind their songs. She also reminisced with Wiseman about their time working together and even downed some Fireball shots while she was on stage.
Is this an effort to rehabilitate Taylor’s public image which took a hit after Kim Kardashian outed her for lying? We can’t know for sure. But Taylor Swift is going on the road soon. Her Reputation tour starts on May 8 in Phoenix, Arizona.
