
Fans of leftist popstar Taylor Swift are boycotting the New York Times for an article published last week that targeted the Grammy Award-winning artist to speculate crudely about the singer’s private life.
Friends and fans of Swift are organizing a boycott and calling for New York Times readers to cancel their subscriptions, asserting that the New York Times opinion piece was misogynistic and “grossly inappropriate.” They question — because of course they do — whether the Times or other similar news outlets would publish a similar piece about a male singer.
An anonymous associate close to Swift told CNN: “There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece.’”
The New York Times op-ed, entitled “Look What You Made Me Do,” and authored by Anna Marks, argues that past support of the “Miss Americana” star for the LGBT community in her public statements and lyrics indicates that she might be secretly LGBT herself and hiding it from the public.
“Whether she is conscious of it or not, Ms. Swift signals to queer people — in the language we use to communicate with one another — that she has some affinity for queer identity,” wrote Marks.
In @nytopinion
“Whether she is conscious of it or not, Ms. Swift signals to queer people — in the language we use to communicate with one another — that she has some affinity for queer identity," writes Anna Marks.https://t.co/WhqhXqq5AG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 4, 2024
The singer-songwriter is currently dating Kansas City Chief tight end Travis Kelce. Swift’s dedicated fan base immediately rebuked the newspaper for making such vain speculation about their idol’s private life, expressing their distaste for the op-ed and calling the paper’s ethics into question.
One fan pointed out the op-ed would be even more appropriate if what it said were true: “What the hell did I just read? It’s severely disturbing that the NYT would participate in the ultimately phobic attempted “outing” of Taylor Swift. Hell of a way to treat an ally, Anna Marks.”
Just cancelled my subscription. This article is sexist and grossly inappropriate.
— Brigitte Nerd is the Word Kearney (@brigitteleann) January 6, 2024
“This was the least defensible op-ed I can remember ever seeing the NYT run, made all the worst by the fact that it was written by a staffer, who specializes in these speculations,” said Chris Willman, the chief music critic for Variety.