I actually think calling some of these mean girl moments is being rather generous, because a few of them are genuinely diabolical and, frankly, just the actions of someone with pretty poor character.
One thing I've never understood is why Taylor is constantly painted as this exceptionally sweet, kind, innocent person who wouldn't hurt a fly, particularly when people seem perfectly happy to call out other celebrities for far less. She's done some genuinely nasty, underhand things over the years, and I find it fascinating how much of it gets glossed over or somehow twisted into another example of Taylor being the victim.
Anyway, I thought I'd compile some of my personal favourites.
- Throwing her "best friend" and the mother of her godchildren under the bus
Say what you want about Blake Lively, and regardless of where you stand on the lawsuit, the woman was being absolutely eviscerated by the public. In the middle of a sexual harassment lawsuit, her supposed best friend didn't just quietly distance herself, because what appeared to be carefully placed statements from Taylor's team started making their way into the press, emphasising how Taylor wanted nothing to do with the situation, how she'd been dragged into it without her knowledge and how Blake had essentially put her in an unfair position. So not only did Taylor fail to publicly support someone she supposedly loved, she appeared perfectly happy to add fuel to an already vicious public pile-on by allowing the narrative to shift towards Blake being a terrible friend to her. (And let's not forget those text messages, which painted a rather different picture of just how willing a participant Taylor had been before the whole thing threatened to damage her sweet girl reputation.)
I genuinely think it says an awful lot about someone's character when they're willing to throw a close friend under the bus at arguably one of the lowest points in their life, simply because their own reputation might take a hit. Particularly when that person is supposedly your best friend and has trusted you enough to make you godmother to their children. I find the whole thing incredibly spineless and quite frankly a horrible way to treat someone.
- the Kayla Nicole situation
This one is just nasty to me, because Kayla Nicole is a woman with a relatively small platform compared to Taylor, who is quite literally one of the most famous people on the planet, so we're talking David versus Goliath here. Yet Taylor apparently still felt the need to release lyrics widely interpreted as taking digs at Travis's ex, suggesting she was constantly on her phone and essentially implying that Taylor was the better girlfriend. Sorry, but how old are we? What I find particularly unpleasant is that she's essentially using her music to put a man on a pedestal at the expense of another woman, and seemingly platforming his version of a relationship she knows absolutely nothing about firsthand. No matter how wonderful you think your boyfriend is, the only two people who truly know what went on in his previous relationship are the two people who were actually in it. So to take what appears to be his perspective and use your enormous platform to paint his ex as some sort of inadequate girlfriend, while presenting yourself as the superior replacement, is incredibly naive and frankly quite nasty. Particularly when Kayla was already being relentlessly harassed by Swifties, much of it horrifically racist, and has spoken about the toll it's taken on her mental health. Taylor has an enormous platform, a fiercely protective fanbase and every resource imaginable at her disposal, while Kayla has nowhere near that level of influence, so what exactly was achieved by taking a public swipe at her? I also find it particularly unpleasant that Taylor hasn't publicly discouraged the racist abuse directed at Kayla. The whole thing just strikes me as an incredibly unnecessary way to drag another woman down, all for the sake of putting a man on a pedestal. Quite embarrassing, really.
- The Katy Perry pile on
Imagine taking what was essentially a private business disagreement over some backing dancers and turning it into an international incident, because that's pretty much what Taylor did. She wrote an entire song about how awful Katy supposedly was, assembled half of Hollywood for the music video and encouraged a narrative in which Katy was some sort of evil, calculating villain. All over a disagreement that could have been sorted out privately like actual adults. Katy was absolutely dragged, and for what, exactly? Because Taylor decided she was the enemy that week? I find the whole thing incredibly mean-spirited, particularly when you consider how much influence Taylor had over public opinion at the time and how completely disproportionate the public pile-on was to what had actually happened
- Throwing Joe Alwyn to the wolves
This one really rubs me the wrong way, because Taylor spent six years telling everyone that Joe was the person who loved her when the world hated her, who gave her a safe place to come home to during Snakegate and who didn't care about the fame and just loved her for her. So how does she repay him when the relationship ends? By letting him become public enemy number one, making shady comments and releasing music that opened up deeply personal aspects of their relationship, including his mental health, for millions of strangers to pick apart, all while her fans were absolutely tearing him to pieces. I don't particularly care who ended the relationship or why, because there's something really quite nasty about watching someone who spent years protecting your privacy become a public punching bag while you get to control the narrative. Particularly when this was supposedly someone you loved and respected for the best part of a decade. Really poor form.
- Olivia Rodrigo
This one's been discussed to death, so I'm not going to rehash the entire thing because we all know the story, but I still find it incredibly telling that a young artist, barely out of her teens, who absolutely adored Taylor and was just finding her feet in the industry, ended up in a songwriting-credit dispute involving one of the biggest stars in the world. Whatever the legalities, I find the whole thing deeply unpleasant, because you have all the money, fame, power and industry influence anyone could possibly want, and this is how you treat someone who grew up idolising you? The whole thing left a really sour taste in my mouth, particularly when you consider the enormous power imbalance and how intimidating that situation must have been for someone so young and relatively new to the industry. So much for supporting the next generation of female artists.
6.Deliberately blocking other artists from reaching number one (particularly women)
This is another one I find incredibly petty, because the conveniently timed releases, the endless variants and the sudden activity whenever another artist looks like they might actually get a number one are becoming almost comical at this point. Yes, it's a business and she's perfectly entitled to compete, but there's something deeply insecure about being one of the most successful musicians in history and still seemingly being unable to let another artist have their moment, particularly when so many of them happen to be women. For someone who's spent years championing female empowerment and women supporting women, it does seem rather amusing that this generosity apparently has its limits when there's a number one position up for grabs. Very women supporting women, provided those women know their place on the charts lol
Anyway, those are my personal favourites, although I'm sure I've missed a few absolute classics, so feel free to add your own.
I just find it interesting that someone who's built so much of her public identity around being kind, misunderstood and supportive of other women and has quite such an extensive collection of moments where she's been anything but. There's also a rather obvious running theme here of other women being dragged down, publicly humiliated or made out to be the villain whenever it suits her, which is particularly interesting given how much of her brand revolves around female empowerment and supporting other women. Apparently that support comes with quite a few terms and conditions, and yet somehow we're still supposed to believe she's the sweetest woman in the industry who wouldn't dream of being deliberately cruel to anyone. Right!
