By Natalie Murray ‘18

It would seem that, for every one of the millions of Taylor Swift fans in the world, there are three Taylor Swift haters. Although Swift is a genuine, kind, hardworking singer-songwriter, she always seems to be under fire for something ridiculous— like that she “sues her fans” or is “money-hungry.”
The claim that Swift sues everyone began when she applied to trademark several lyrics and phrases associated with her hit album “1989.” Around that time, some fan-made products involving those phrases/lyrics were removed from Etsy. No fan was ever sued—they were sent cease and desist letters, which simply inform an Etsy user that they are violating Etsy’s terms of use and have to remove their product. Some people, however, choose to exaggerate the story and make it seem like Swift herself hunted down and sued her fans.

The rumor that Swift is greedy stemmed from her decision to pull her music from Spotify, a decision that she clearly explained was to make a point about how artists—particularly lesser-known ones—don’t make as much as they deserve from music-streaming apps. This, in some people’s minds, translated to her complaining about how she wasn’t paid enough. However, Spotify pays per stream, making it very beneficial to popular artists such as Swift (“Shake it Off” was making $84,000 per week before it was removed), so she could’ve made millions by leaving her music on Spotify. But her issue with Spotify wasn’t her own royalties, it was the minuscule profit made by smaller artists. If she had protested that Spotify was problematic and then left her music available to be streamed on the app, she would’ve been called a hypocrite. She chose to call attention to the needs of struggling artists rather than make a huge profit, something that a money-hungry person clearly wouldn’t do.
She’s also been DoSomething.org’s “Most Charitable Celebrity” for four years in a row due to her donations to dozens of charities, including UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Music Foundation, and Stand Up to Cancer. Other donations she’s made include ones to young fans battling cancer, New York City public schools, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and a fan struggling to pay off student loans.

People also create impossible standards for Swift and criticize her when she doesn’t meet them. She wins an award and acts surprised? So fake! She wins an award and doesn’t act surprised? How ungrateful! She doesn’t tweet #FreeKesha? Fake feminist! She privately donates $250,000 to Kesha to help her with legal fees? Stop throwing money around; it doesn’t solve anything!
It’s completely unfair that a hardworking, down-to-earth celebrity such as Swift is called a slut, accused of being ungenuine or uncaring, or bashed for completely made-up or exaggerated reasons. It’s time that Swift be recognized for her generosity, her positive messages to her fans and her dedication to her music.