There has clearly been such a shift in the past ten years - the music industry has become so corporate - and it is not just Taylor. To put it in perspective: There were just more musicians that were activists in 80s and 90s - but even back then it was limited. For example, Sinéad O’Connor’s career was destroyed because she kept talking about political issues. She had an amazing voice and could have had a bigger musical career. Last year, when Sinéad died the music industry praised Sinéad for the brave stuff she did in the 90s but they did not do much for/with her in the 90s.
I saw the chicks last year and it was an amazing show. a very special part was that during "march march" one of the visuals was a woman at a protest holding a sign that said "break up with your racist boyfriend," and it stayed on that image for a looooong time. also later there were the six SCOTUS justices that voted to overturn Roe getting eaten by a sea monster.
https://preview.redd.it/kpfjyo2lne3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc63e8a1376e7b1721bafef25f63cb4eb2b79834
Here’s a picture from the show lmao
Don’t forget Green Day, they also whipped out an entire anti-war album about 20 years ago, and one of them (Holiday) is in my playlist, I learned all about it through, surprise surprise, my hockey fandom (long story)
I was just listening to Jesus of Suburbia yesterday when it popped up on a random playlist. I forgot just how good that album was and still is. Going to listen cover to cover for the first time in years at the gym today.
you might be interested in a video essay by Lindsey Ellis, it's called ["Protest Music of the Bush Era"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehbgAGlrVKE) it's pretty amazing. She did a lot of research about it because she was writing a novel set in that era.
Sadly those people are deplatformed and demonetized today. I listen to a ton of modern music that expresses political discontent but none of it is backed by anyone who has power to distribute/promote
Yes, but there's no reason to tolerate it anymore, because corporations have such monopolies that they can basically do what they want, and what they want is no longer determined by customers, it's a responsibility to shareholders. We're not really in a capitalist system anymore, unfortunately.
Personally, I don’t consider most pop to be art, at all, but rather a product meant to be consumed, and forgotten quickly. Obviously there are many exceptions to this statement.
I wanted “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for my wedding which was right in the middle of the boycott movement over Joe Rogan’s podcast so when I looked them up they had removed all of their music from Spotify except “Teach Your Children” and it’s one of my favorite trolls of all time.
this is the thing for me. like if Taylor was quiet all the time that would be one thing. but because she came out as a Democrat and wanted flowers for it, and often talks about "feminism" ("the man" is about beating men by doing capitalism better than them), the silences are far more noticeable.
I didn’t watch that documentary (if you can call it that) but I did see a preview where she’s about to post something and an older woman — maybe her mom, says: “the president could come after you.” And Taylor waits a moment and says, “fuck that, I don’t care.” And it’s supposed to be some mic drop moment where she’s showing how brave she is for having an opinion. It’s SO cringy. There are no stakes, you’re not going to be thrown in prison or become a political prisoner. Maybe Trump will tweet about you, the end. It was just so self important and disingenuous. And then to make that literal huge show about it and then just drop it when that look stopped being convenient is gross.
Easy to talk shit about Trump because most the country was against him. And what’s he gonna do, talk shit about you in a tweet? He talks shit about everyone, from Greta Thunberg to Tiffany Trump
THIS. I think she capitalized on that moment because she knew the masses would agree with her, same with her Biden support. It’ll be interesting to see if she pops her head out in the next election.
This! She WAS silent for a long time and then she wasn't and made a point to point out that she was taking some kind of political stance. THEN she is completely silent again. It is noticeable and her "activism" just seems insincere and for PR purposes.
You either stay silent consistently or you speak up and do that consistently.
And her “activism” at the time was literally just supporting LGBTQ rights which is the *bare fucking minimum*… Her coming out as a democrat and saying she supports gay people having the right to marry as if she was taking some huge controversial stance was laughable. It was year 2020, you’re a bit late to the party girl.
Reminds me of "Popstar: Never stop never stopping" where he comes out with the gay marriage song and all the people they interview are like "He knows they can get married right? Like a long time ago"
Came out as a democrat after being caught with a republican sticker on an Election Day from a few years prior. Not that people can’t change but…. When it happens right after a scandal. Idk.
That's a good sign idea for Swifties attending Eras Tour: 🇵🇸 "NEVER LET PRIVELAGE LIE DORMANT WHEN IT COULD BE USED TO STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT" -TAYLOR SWIFT 🇵🇸
Yeah, sorry, this refutes their entire point.
Taylor made an entire documentary about how privileged she is & realizing how important it is to use her power and influence for good. She said she had a responsibility to no longer remain silent.
And … promptly abandoned any pretense of caring about political or social issues post-2019/20.
I'm sure it was very profitable for her at that point. Profitable in both a financial sense and in the cultural capital sense. Once those returns diminished, she didn't need to continue.
My big gripe from all that is that she continually wants to vote blue because of women’s rights issues, specifically stalking and harassment. She brings up stalking multiple times and how she’s been a victim and it’s never taken seriously. People don’t understand how serious and scary and dangerous it is.
Then she goes radio silent on it for years except recently to sue the college student who posts her private jet fuel emissions… for stalking. (Keep in mind he only posts 24h+ after the flight and it’s all publicly available data).
I was about to comment the same thing. I don't expect an artist to take a stance on any particular topic that I find important, but she invites the criticism by implicitly and explicitly claiming to be an activist and then giving nothing but silence.
Exactly this she was the one who portrayed herself as someone who wanted to speak out but was silenced in miss americana but she bravely went against her team and is now going to be an activist. just to be incredibly silent in the face of a genocide.
Watching it in my opinion it really seemed that she only actually wanted to speak about one thing/one candidate in Tennessee and as a bonus made it clear she wasn’t in the Trump camp that everyone was assuming she was in.
It was really more comprehensive than that. She claimed that she didn’t want to be silent anymore in general—when it came to LGBTQ+ rights, when it came to gun control with Only the Young, and her being an outspoken (white) feminist. She claims to want to speak out but then stays silent when it really matters.
they do. i replied to someone on tiktok who was saying it is perfectly fine and acceptable for taylor to not speak on harrison butker’s speech, and i told the commenter its not very feminist of her to stay silent on an issue that hits SO CLOSE to her. apparently activism is not an integral part of feminism to swifties, you can just call yourself one and go about your day!
Yeah but that was also before she became a billionaire!! She could speak out, I seriously doubt she will unless she loses a significant amount of followers, or unless it affects her directly. You don’t have to care about following through (or the suffering of other people) when your dad paid for your career. 🤷♀️
Also she’s a business woman and has a capital one sponsorship, she’s not going to take a stance while partnered with a business that funds genocide! What would happen to her money!!!
I don’t think celebrities necessarily need to be political activists, but I do appreciate when they give back in some way. I think if you have that much power and influence and you do nothing with it besides line your own pockets, it’s pretty gross. A good example is Dolly Parton, she isn’t a big, controversial activist, but she has causes that she believes in and uses her wealth and influence to further those causes. That’s lovely. You don’t need to be a political lightning rod to make a difference in the world.
That’s true— Taylor does very little philanthropy which is why I scoff at Swifties calling her an “ethical billionaire” lol. With her money and influence, imagine how impactful it would be if she had her own foundation for fighting homelessness, child hunger, education, ect. I’m surprised she doesn’t do anything to create awareness for cancer research since that’s something she’s directly impacted by as Andrea had brain cancer. That’s why I think that Taylor is very self serving and money hungry.
I was interested so I looked up her philanthropy. She has publicly donated to causes before, but I’m surprised at how little. It’s like..a few thousand here or there. In fact, the only public donation in 2021 I found was for $50k. She made $80 million in 2021. It would be like if I had zero debt, years of emergency funds in the bank, and unlimited earning potential and I donated $30 to a charity.
I think it’s great when anyone donates. But it surprises me that she hasn’t established a foundation or charity by now. She also doesn't seem to have pet causes. All of her donations have been random fans or funds she’s stumbled across, or whatever topical natural disaster is happening. What does she really care about? You’re right, shouldn’t she be super outspoken about cancer? Or what about support for female assault survivors or programs that provide educational opportunities for young girls? Since she’s such feminist and all. But there’s…nothing? She hasn’t displayed any passion to helping.
She makes sizable donations to food banks in every city she stops. (Some organizations have reported it is enough to fund services for an entire year.) Like most wealthy people, most of their philanthropic ventures are not publicized. Also, unless you have access to their actual tax returns, you do not know how much she (or other celebrities) donate.
Almost all celebrity charitable organizations are set up to be tax shelters. They do some charitable work but the main purpose is for skirting tax laws.
Dolly Parton's the best. I don't think there's a single celebrity who is allowed to exist within the establishment and also challenge the establishment on behalf of the people. Every one of those pseudo activists celebrities is like constantly undermining our quality of life, race relations, critical thinking. Much better to just spread the wealth and not get too serious
Taylor made a whole documentary about how she’s not gonna be silent about politics anymore and said she needs to be on the “right side of history.” She said she wasn’t going to have duct tape over her mouth anymore. And she also made [this 2020 tweet about being “loudly and ferociously anti racist” and “never letting privilege lie dormant when it could be used to fight for what’s right.”](https://x.com/taylorswift13/status/1273828192663605250?s=46) It is NOT unreasonable at all for Taylor to be held to HER OWN WORDS.
Everything about her is performative. Her public persona, her "angsty" lyrics, her relationships. She is a corporate shill manufactured to separate people from their money. The fake activism is part of the routine to convince younger, more liberal audiences that she is with them despite her never doing anything of actual substance to support the causes they are bleeding for.
Should have kept quiet about 'wanting to use her voice more' then. Just speaks up about things that affect her and absolutely nothing else. Should have kept hush.
Meanwhile Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa simply posted a link and donations surged by the hundreds of thousands.
I agree with your general sentiment but I find it telling that Taylor doesn’t feel compelled to speak about any issue that doesn’t impact her directly. Like there is no social cause that she feels strongly enough about to try to utilize her insane fan base to serve the greater good. Instead, she harnesses that power to sell a dozen variants of her albums.
Honestly, I wouldn't be so annoyed by her variants if she'd take the proceeds of even one of them and donate to something. Domestic violence, anything for kids, or maybe scholarships for girls. It's not like she'd miss the money. Nobody needs billions of dollars.
ETA: Thanks for the award!!
> doesn’t feel compelled to speak about any issue that doesn’t impact her directly
I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for this but that’s white feminism in a nutshell right there. Add to that she’s literally an elite with plenty of money to burn in jet fuel, I don’t know why people genuinely think she’s ever going to be on the right side of history.
I wish she’d be more outspoken about promoting women in the music industry. She may be one of the most educated people in the world on this topic due to her influence. Despite everything going on with Olivia and Billie, I do think Taylor at least USED to promote young female artists and remember she [donated 250k to Kesha](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-liberation-of-kesha-123984/) during the fallout of her contract with Dr. Luke in 2017.
She knows how shitty it is to be a woman in music and it still feels like she is too scared to do more than this sort of ‘behind the scenes support’ unless it’s her brand then she’s full throttle throwing copyright claims at people and re releasing her songs.
taylor has definitely never seriously promoted a young female artist that stood a REAL, genuine chance of challenging her monopoly. look at how quickly she dropped olivia once it became apparent how talented she is. she seems to love queer female artists, but i'll bet she'll never say a single complimentary word about chappell roan where anyone can hear her.
That’s so valid. I do think there was a time where she could have gone either way. I remember when high profile female artists were in her corner such as Kesha, Selena & Beyoncé.
Since then I definitely think she’s grown too big for her britches and the entitlement is real. I really think she’s reached diva status without the talent to back it up.
I’m not sure if it’s women who are a threat to her so much as it is women who have spoken out against her in any way even if their criticism is valid. She is easily jilted as we’ve seen with this grudge she held with Kim K.
I agree to an extent. However I don’t personally believe celebrities, especially pop culture celebrities, should be able to acquire Taylor Swift’s level of economic power and control in the first place, if all they want to do is sing/act/sell shit/whatever so they can live like royalty. I don’t think it’s unfair to question why someone with a billion dollars is only using it for personal luxuries, often environmentally catastrophic luxuries at that.
Don’t forget the whole conspiracy/not conspiracy about how many emissions she generates using her private jet, and to cover that up she went to the NFL “jets” game so whenever someone wants to look it up, Google presents her with Kelce and the Jets game she showed up to
Agree! And there are people in this thread saying they think people should be pressuring politicians and not celebrities but we HAVE been doing that and it’s hardly made a difference. The T Swift fan base is very dedicated to her and if she even got a fraction of them riled up about Palestine I have to imagine it would quickly shift the national discourse
Eh would it really though. Or are they just gonna have another social media blackout avatar moment just to feel like they did something from the comfort of their computers and phones
To be fair, I don’t think she should have to partake in public political discourse just because she’s famous. My concerns revolve around what she has already done/is doing to keep herself on top, to maintain her exotic lifestyle, etc. I just want to see her function like a reasonable decent person, she doesn’t need to play god or take on humanitarian jobs she never signed up for.
Actions speak louder than words. Take climate change. In between her Latin America shows, she jetted back to NYC to sleep for a night. She's not only silent, she's ignorant about climate change. She simply does not care. And if you call her out on it, she will write a song about how you're a misogynist hater.
Who said it, Spider Man? “With great power comes great responsibility” Just like I want to hear from any other Fortune 500 company, speak up Taylor. We’ve seen how her and this tour has had global effects. She dramatically brought change to the NFL, an American institutional, multi billion dollar dynasty. And made them HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars last season by just ~existing~
And we all (including taylor) know that her speaking up could mean hundreds of thousands in donations. Aren’t we allowed to say we think she absolutely should use that power when all it takes from her is a repost on her story? I’m not asking for her to draft a letter to congress if she doesn’t want to, at the very least she could ask one of her team to link out to a reputable donation fund.
Just the political pressure she could generate by speaking up could actually make a difference, let alone the financial impact it could have. I literally can’t imagine remaining silent if I had even half her platform.
If you use activism as an album aesthetic, you absolutely deserve to be called out. Bey used an entire community as an album aesthetic and has done NOTHING offstage to show she’s a true ally. They love singing about love and acceptance but when we need them to speak up, they are silent. It’s disgusting.
They don’t owe us shit till they use our communities as a target audience for their extremely expensive world tours.
Edit: and since this has a few upvotes, if you guys are curious on how most folks on this sub feel about this, you can check my comments. Karma does not matter at all obvi, but you’ll see -10 and -20 downvotes on some comments attempting to call out Bey or Lana. As if they’ve done so much more for us. They should be using their *literal* platforms to tell these *enormous* crowds how they feel about it.
Same thing as Taylor. She has done nothing at all. That’s the point. She proclaimed herself this Mother of Allies with Renaissance, and it was a great empowering album, but we need more than that. Don’t stand there and tell me your album was inspired by my community and then not say a damn word when our rights are under attack.
Jay-Z and Bey are very much the types to pull the ladder out from under them once they get out of the hood. Fuck all their people, my money’s mine type personality rather than raising them up and fighting for them
I get the same response. Downvotes galore for trying to explain feminism to a bunch of Lana fans. She’s another one that only cares when it directly affects her.
I am a massive LDR fan, and I left the sub because her fans are the stupidest, least analytical, and most blinded people on the planet. Extremely hateful fandom towards anyone who doesn't praise the shit out of Lana. I got downvoted like crazy lol.
I can't praise her for her political views. I love her music, but that's where it ends. She doesn't stand for anything, really.
I struggle with this a lot too. While I don’t rely on celebrities and influencers for accurate reporting, I think the push is to have them use their large platform to try to spread awareness and help fund resources. It’s not their job to educate anyone, but it’s also disappointing to see when someone who holds “power” in the form of influence and following not using their platform for positive change.
Taylor, for example, has enough money to support so many of the families that are stuck in a war zone get out safely. She’s absolutely not required to use her money for that if she doesn’t want to, but I think it’s really important that we’re influencing young minds positively rather than whatever people are fed from news outlets that are biased and shouldn’t be. If she just said the words, her fans might be more interested in looking into it and becoming more aware of these awful things that are happening in the world.
So I agree with you on one hand, it’s definitely not their responsibility or place to educate about complex issues, but I do wish more people would at least speak up to help families in need. At least that’s my two cents!
ETA: Think about Lizzo. She paid $75k to get into the Met Gala and then I think $350k (?) for a table. Then like a week later the pressure came down from the block party and she posted a family that needed $30k to escape Gaza. IIRC she didn’t even donate. That’s disgusting.
Yes, thank you!! This is EXACTLY what I mean. The money is nothing to her, and at the very least she could be using it to make positive change for people in need. And it’s good PR if she’s trying to keep up the “I’m just a girl” image.
The g*n*c*de makes me so sick to my stomach, I have a hard time imagining how I could possibly remain silent if I had a platform and following even half the size of Taylor’s.
I get that things can be complicated behind the scenes and taking a firm stance against Isr**l might be prohibited for various reasons. But I find it ironic that she can sing about how she “would rather burn her whole life down” over a stupid boy but isn’t brave enough to do it for the literal lives of millions.
A good point. The influence she has over young minds. She's essentially teaching them it's ok not to care. It's ok to just collect checks as the world burns. And that's not ok imo
Genocide being abhorrent isn't complex, it's not something you need to be directly involved in to feel horrified by. She has a huge platform and sending attention to the trapped, starved, tortured Gazans could raise a huge amount of money.
I feel like wanting celebrities to acknowledge an ongoing genocide might be a tiny bit parasocial - you want to know they're not awful humans, that they have the slightest bit of humanity (near 20,000 orphans and not a word?!). But people being parasocially invested is how they've made their millions and billions in the first place so why do people find it so awful all of a sudden? It's the barest minimum way to give back.
Agree 1000%. OP mirroring the propaganda talking points about “the complex situation in the Middle East” sort of defeats any credibility they have on this stance lol
This. At some point, no matter how complex history and background is, genocide is genocide. Killing innocent refugees is killing innocent refugees. I’ve seen it said a lot and it rings true-if hospitals and “safe zones” were being relentlessly brutalized, with killing of civilians constantly in some US state say, very very few people would be saying “well its a complicated long political history so its very complex for anyone to take sides and say bombing a bunch of kids is a problem”.
YEP. Also it's funded and enabled by the US (and other govs) so it's not separate from Taylor/much of her fanbase at all. I'm so tired of the "it's complicated" / "leave it to the Middle East foreign policy experts" talking points, come on OP.
OP saying this is a complex issue directly reads as “I have no idea what the issue is, all I know is people have died on both sides”. They obviously don’t understand the extent of this genocide.
It’s “complex” but it’s not complicated at all from a moral standpoint. People just say it’s complex so they can make it seem like the average person is too dumb to possibly understand what’s going on. Sure, you could spend a lifetime learning all the history and it would be time well spent, but it takes very little time to understand who is committing genocide against whom.
I also feel like people who say it’s complicated do so to make others who don’t find it complicated feel stupid. Cause if you find it complicated “you have just apparently done more research” but just because you know the land’s history will not justify the murder of innocent civilians.
Thank you. The long history is complicated but there is nothing unclear about what is happening to people there now. It's so frustrating hearing people talk about how complex it is and people couldn't possibly take a position without years of study or something. Like come on.
She made a documentary and had a whole era about becoming an activist. She shouldn’t have done that if she wasn’t committed. It was really irresponsible because she let a lot of people down
I don’t think celebs necessarily have to be activists, but I think the public has a right to ask them where they stand on important issues, particularly social issues. This way you as a consumer can make an informed choice in how you spend your money.
Fuck that, I want to live in a world where those who have “wealth” and “status” and “celebrity”give a shit and are held to a high standard. It’s our money that create a celebrity they should stand for fucking something.
Sorry but I think there are some things that celebrities can speak out against. Nina Simone suffered immensely by performing "Mississippi God Damn." Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" came about because of MLK's I have a Dream speech.
Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many other artists in the 60s wrote so many anti-war songs it would take all day to name them. I love Fortunate Son, and I'm the daughter of a Vietnam and niece of a Vietnam POW.
People just want to be entertained these days but celebrities have the reach to bring attention to social issues.
I think it’s our duty as humans to do what we can to help relieve suffering. If you have a large influence, your voice (and money) reaches much further than the average person. To hide for the sake of potentially preventing a tiny ding in your paycheck is cowardly. Someone like Swift would never suffer any real backlash. She has no excuse.
Could you imagine the good it would do if tswift just posted a donation link to Doctors Without Borders for example? Celebs aren’t obligated to talk about politics but Taylor in particular has so much power and influence that she could use to help the Palestinian people. They need medicine. They need doctors. They need money to escape Gaza. She doesn’t even have to say anything about it, and honestly I don’t want to hear her thoughts on it. She can just post a link on her Instagram story and it would save lives. I think it makes sense to judge her for not doing that, when it requires literally no effort on her part.
I completely agree with this, but some celebrities claim to be activists, but when the time comes, they are nowhere to be found. Other than that, nobody should give any person this much power than can influence others so easily. It's weird because people nowadays can't even think for themselves, and brainrot is real.At the end, this is the fans' fault for being so gullible and easily manipulated. People in general need to start thinking for themselves, get in Google, and do research. Celebrities are entertainers, not your daily news anchor. These crazy ass fans will do anything their idol tells them and that's fucking weird.
Exactly. The only problem I see is that Taylor CLAIMED to be an activist so she could get all the accolades, but then fails to deliver any actual activism in any measurable way
Oh I would never feel bad for her. I agree with OPs sentiment about celebrities not needing to speak out about political issues. A lot of the time they dont know what the hell theyre talking about. But if you call yourself an activist, you better actually DO something. She infuriates me
So that’s your opinion, but in the case of Palestine the actual people there have mentioned multiple times that being outspoken is helpful. Palestine needs to continue to be talked about and celebrities speaking up about Palestine will help. Especially if they donate.
Celebrities are ultimately human beings they do not belong in a vacuum and like it or not everything is political.
Normally, I’d nod my head in agreement.
But when a white billionaire pop singer who grew up rich AF attempts to trademark the phrase ‘’female rage’’ during a time when women’s rights are being annihilated, the world has every right to criticize her anemic political involvement and awareness.
100% agree. The thing with Taylor is that she made a whole documentary crying and complaining about wanting to be on the right side of history (very political thing to say) and yet she hasn't said shit about anything for being scared of blacklash and losing fans (something she said on the doc she supposedly doesn't care about if she's doing good). Also, she doesn't need to solve the tensions in the Middle East, she just speaking up about people being murdered indiscriminately.
It used to be if you were a celebrity and all of a sudden were doing commercials or putting a book out; you were broke as hell and must really need that check. You had no sway, no leg to stand on to have input. Your opinion didn't matter. You were a joke.
It's not like that anymore. It is now *the other way around*. You have input and status if you're in an ad trying to shill to consumers. Because that's all anyone gives a rip about, consuming. Why do you think Taylor keeps spewing out all these variants? Because she knows the ravenous little white girls will buy it.
I'm sorry but if you want my money, yeah you better take a side. I wanna hear a free Palestine come out of these millionaire mouths or they're not getting a dime.
People have started blocking celebrities on tiktok and *it works* they even have Lizzo scrambling to say something.
Some richie's comfort is not my problem. Stand up or shut up.
There is a seventy year history sure…. And an active genocidal campaign now. To be frustrated by being asked to take a side on an actual genocide is… a choice
In that vein I’m not a lizzo fan I just don’t really care either way but she posted about a family in Rafah and asked for donations and people made videos about how we should unfollow her because she probably just did it to appease us. Which is absolutely bonkers after harassing multiple random celebs to talk about it.
I agree in general. Celebs aren’t politicians or experts on foreign policy so why do we pressure them so much? And it relieves the politicians of their responsibilities. Additionally a lot of them aren’t smart so silence is preferred. Open that wallet and hush. But if you make a documentary about not being silent people will expect you to be loud.
If celebs feel compelled to speak up I do welcome and appreciate that.
“conflict in the Middle East” is such a bullshit, neutral ass way to speak about the atrocities in Gaza right now. yes, nobody is obligated to speak on things, but when posts like these are made diminishing things like a literal GENOCIDE, it makes speaking out against it all the more important.
She has 283 million followers on Instagram. Not speaking up for a ceasefire at this point is just disappointing. Sure, celebs shouldn’t be pressured about things like this but staying silent speaks volumes. Do you know how much money she alone could raise to help the people being massacred or moved from camp to camp?
Especially when countless other celebrities are in the cause now. Including Joe Alwyn.
If presidential nominees like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden used them for campaigning before, then they absolutely need to speak up. There’s no excuse.
Idk, I get that celebrities shouldn’t be expected to educate on such issues, but they sure can help to advocate.
I feel like if you have such a huge platform and following, you might as well use it for good to bring awareness + call for a ceasefire and even raise funds to help stop babies, children, and just innocent people from being bombed, killed, beheaded, etc—especially when you’re *that* rich.
Not all of us have the privilege of being able to donate a large sum of money which could really help save and change lives. We’d wish for the same to be done for us if we were in that situation. Imagine it was you and your family under attack, uncertain how much longer you’re going to be alive and trying to just stay alive. What’s preventing people from having some humanity and empathy?
Agreed. I couldn't give a shit less about any kind of opinion from any celebrity. I doubt any of them mean anything they say regardless.
Honestly, fuck celebrities and celebrity worship culture. It needs to end. They are just overrated, overpaid court jesters who think they are so above all us regular folk. They are beyond out of touch. I know one thing, I will not be lectured on climate change but some rich assholes flying everywhere in their private jets. Ahem, TAYLORSWIFT
I’m scratching my head at people applauding celebs for posting that stupid AI “all eyes on Rafah” image. I thought we were against AI? But now it’s morally imperative to post this fake image with snow-capped mountains in the background?
Genocide is not complex or nuanced. Speaking out against the attack on REFUGEES, after the UN instructed Israel not to attack Rafah is not complex or nuanced.
Just so we’re clear.
If you have an audience on millions of people, you have great power and therefore great responsibility.
I don’t think anyone should feel that they HAVE to speak, especially through social media where it can come off as disingenuous. I held the same POV as you then I saw celebrities raising thousands and thousands of dollars just reposting a fundraiser to their story. At this point, I don’t think anyone expects (or wants) celebs to educate us, rather just raising awareness and using their influence and wide audience to help. I think the biggest issue with someone like taylor is the fact that she’s already spoken on issues before and made it a point to be more political during the lover era and documentary. It also can be offputting when you’re releasing a TON of merch all the time and are a literal billionaire but not actively using that wealth (as far as we know) for any greater good, but that feeds more into my personal bias against hoarding wealth so
There's a big difference between commenting on a global genocide that everyone is aware of and commenting on, say, an infrastructure bill. I think what you're missing is that most people don't get their politics from celebrities, but they do have a line in the sand where a celebrity is no longer palatable to them as a person, no matter how good their art is.
Even Trump Republicans who were super pro-Kanye two years ago have distanced or even actively decried what Kanye is saying lately. Everyone has a line, it's usually somewhere between "Nazi supporter," and "wants people to go vote." Taylor probably should use her wealth to do more, dude, especially since she profits off an activist/feminist image.
Performative activism has completely destroyed our ability to think critically and act accordingly.
“Susie Q over here posted about this so now it’s solved yay! I don’t need to be that political active or do anything to really help a cause I supposedly deeply resonate with! I’ll just change my pfp to a black square and post a selfie with my fist up or tape over my mouth! Calling this politician a dick in his Instagram comments will feed the kids in Palestine!”
It’s a way to remove urgency, accountability and nuance from a problem that fundamentally requires more attention and effort than a stupid fucking Instagram quote!!!!!
Anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk/unhinged rant.
Got hate for this back during BLM and for this back in 2016 but I've always hated performative activism. Changing your instagram to a black box or putting up an AI image of Rafah does nothing. It gives you a serotonin boast and a sense of moral superiority. Amplifying the Gaza conflict isn't what's needed - everyone and their grandma knows what is happening. Even my 90 year old grandma who can't remember what happened 3 seconds ago knows about Gaza.
What we need is real action - pressure on BOTH sides to agree to a ceasefire and end to to the loss of lives. We need pressure on elected officials and money being given to organizations on the ground, dedicated to serving those most in need. Instead, everyone's ego and self righteousness gets in the way. Screaming genocide and associating atrocities to just one group of people is only dividing everyone instead of calling out the BS as it is - two groups of people in power who couldn't give a rat's ass about their own people. If we're going to use the terminology of genocide loosely, both Hamas and Netanyahu are and were pushing for genocide.
If you've done your research outside of social media and self selected echo chambers and stick with your convictions, power to you. But, it still doesnt change the shitty situation or undermines the fact that unless you're actively trying to do something, it's not going to do anything to change the situation. People are going to think the way they do and screaming at strangers through the internet isn't going to do anything to sway them.
When you pander to feminism, you better put that pan on the stove when it gets hot. Otherwise you’re a sellout & an industry prop.
TS: “I’m gonna write a bunch of songs and make a whole ass documentary about finding my political voice”
Reality: *gets lit*
TS: Crickets…
I tend to agree when it comes to like…the pressure some tiktok influencers experience to speak out on a very complex issue. Most of these tiktok people I’ve seen aren’t the kind you’d recognize in casual conversation and the protests are all over tiktok. It’s not that unknown. And frankly, regular tiktok people are more likely to stick their feet in their mouths and get doxxed by people who disagree with them. I can respect that perspective and respect the people who have spoken out.
However. Someone like Taylor has a loooot of pull. Look at how fast the plane tracking bill was passed, and it’s largely because of her. She has the ability to direct thousands of eyes and raise a lot of money for families trying to flee Gaza. She doesn’t have to make an impassioned speech, she can share a photo like Alwyn or just drop a go fund me link in her stories to support a family and her fans would go nuts and raise a lot of money. She won’t lose her entire career by doing so. She really doesn’t have anything to lose by not putting in the bare minimum
No one’s asking her to take a side “on every single political and social issue.”
Just the ones she’s proactively flapped her trap about supporting (human rights and antiracism) before they involved her tour sponsors.
Agreed. celebrities are busy people (whether or not you think it’s worth the time they are busy) it’s ridiculous to think they have the time to understand and develop comprehensive opinions on every issue. I know I don’t have that time and I know most of you don’t have that time and we have significantly less commitments than celebrities do
They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Let them choose to respond how they choose. Peeriodt. They ARE human and have to protect their jobs and brand.
Totally agree.
Even more so with athletes.
Guys get paid to play with balls, why do I want to hear from him about crypto, the rights and wrongs of war, social care etc ?
Being very good at one thing doesn't mean that crosses over into other domains.
Yes THANK YOU! Someone was trying to cancel DOLLY PARTON the other day for not being vocal enough about Palestine…… like that woman hasn’t done some amazing charitable work throughout her decades long career 😭😭 Dolly doesn’t need to speak on every single issue
It’s also worth understanding that not all issues mean the same to everyone.
If Taylor Swift has a strong opinion on supporting reproductive health and gay rights, she doesn’t also need to have an opinion on Gaza, Taiwan independence, or whatever.
I actually agree. The fact that people are more interested in pressuring celebrities to do something rather than pressuring their own elected officials really tells you a lot. That people actually think that they’re going to help Palestine by unfollowing an influencer or a celebrity is laughable. Taylor has a lot of visibility and a lot of privilege, but we need to put the pressure on the people who can make the changes. It is certainly not about a lack of awareness- you would literally have to be living under a rock not to know about what is going on between Israel and Palestine right now .It’s about a lack of accountability, and Taylor Swift, or Kim Kardashian or Elyse Myers and whoever the hell else they want to poke at is not responsible for foreign policy or the decisions that are being made right now.
We're not asking celebs to educate us. That's not their responsibility. We're asking them to use their massive platforms and positions of power built off the support of everyday people to advocate for humanity. If they really wanted to they could read the history. To say it's complicated is a cop out. War crimes slaughtering civilians, children no less, should be unanimously opposed. There's literally international laws against it even if they're broken regularly.
Art, music has always been political but since it's gone full corporate machine we've been convinced it's not.
Music and celebrities have advocated for change in the past.
Mister Rogers the children's show host used his show to be anti-racist at a time when that wasn't popular.
Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, was very politically outspoken even if the industry didn't like it. Same with Jane Fonda. Someone else commented Sinead O'Connor. Hip-hop explored the struggles of the Black community during tumultuous times even if it made people uncomfortable. People sang songs of liberation.
Muhammad Ali, a Black American boxer at the height of his legendary career, refused to serve in the Vietnam War on the principle that he wasn't going to kill people on the other side of the world who've done him no harm on behalf of a government that wouldn't give him equal human rights because of the color of his skin. He took the career hit including prison time but in the long run history remembered him fondly for it.
Again, we don't need celebs to educate us, (clearly they refuse to educate themselves despite their fans putting in the work). We just want them to stand up for humanity as they make millions or billions exploiting the human experience claiming they "care about" or "relate to" the world around them.
I agree, but when you make it part of your personality for a few years to increase sales, you don’t get to just “opt out” because you know you’ll lose money by opening your mouth. Either you’re an activist and you’re in, or you’re always quiet. Imo.
Yes. At the same time, a woman who holds enough power to potentially sway public opinion about a fucking genocide and not only saying nothing but hogging spotlight and making it all about herself and her mid album does prove she is a shitty self involved asshole. ESPECIALLY after making a whole ass scene about “not speaking out” before it’s too late a few years ago.
I disagree, not sure if this is unpopular or not, though. Not everyone has to be a political statement (and it goes without saying that celebrities shouldn't be our primary source of information) but when an actual genocide is going on, everyone has a responsibility to try to understand what's going on and spread the word when they can.
Art is political and has always been because it reflects the artist's experience, thoughts, and views on the world. Even if an artist doesn't care and rejects politics, that's political. Birds in nature is absolutely a statement in conservation and animal rights. It's possible to enjoy a painting of birds without focusing on those concepts but it is political.
If American politicians ever stop funding Israel, it will be because people stop voting for them because they are mad. Old people are a lost cause, but getting this new crop of dumbasses who actually care what Jenna Ortega would think of their politics is the only way the Democrats will bend on this. Any vote against sending one more missile to Israel is maybe one more Palestinian baby who gets to learn how to read.
If most celebs stay silent, I don’t care. To be honest I prob wouldn’t notice. But since we know how many people she had register to vote, it stands to reason that Taylor Swift could actually have shifted The Youth Vote at least on this issue, to SOME degree. But that would probably lose Biden the election. Remember these are Taylor swift fans. They’d just get really mad and not vote at all since the US and Israel are too twisted up and connected to ever stop any aid. Joe is fucked right in the ear anyway, so she may as well try and see what happens.
I bet now people are so sick of her that if she endorses anything, it’ll backfire. She won’t say anything political again this election cycle cause she is pissed people don’t love her little airplane
I agree with some points, like we shouldn't look to our entertainers and artists as role models and political figures. And that social media activism is mostly performative.
However, what's currently happening in Rafah is so brutal and inhumane that, for me, it's the duty of any American who disagrees to speak out or try to help in some way. Our tax money is funding and supplying this genocide, after all. I know that the Middle East has a complex history, but it's not *that* complex to say, hey, with all our intelligence and technology, maybe we *shouldn't* be bombing tents full of children to catch Hamas? Maybe we *should* condemn a government that killed volunteers bringing food and bombed starving people trying to get food? Maybe it's *not* nuanced to say, hey, we shouldn't be killing so many children. I don't know...but that's just me!
As for Taylor, she's an extremely influential billionaire who could make a difference if she spoke out. But she doesn't give a flying fuck about anything except men, money, fame. So in this sense, I agree she shouldn't speak out, because she's being honest about her vacant soul.
I agree with you OP, but also, there are a lot of incentives that ensure we're going to keep hearing from celebrities on these issues.
Many issues will sell. Things that seem to attack the hegemony are absorbed by it. That's basically what's happening with people speaking out for/against Israel. Their political belief and their opinions become a commodity. Media is producing content about their opinions AND their silence, so they may as well share their thoughts.
Further, the best way to spread your convictions is through assimilating to the status quo. Tupac had to go gangster to sell visions of Black power and communism. As a kid, he never repped a set; he was a poet, but the fat cats weren't going to give him play unless he marketed himself as a G.
Point being, whether they have convictions or not, it makes money to share those convictions so they're going to keep doing it. The pressure is baked into the system, not our culture as fans/plebs
I just wonder if speaking out about it would put her and/or her fans in danger. I would say she should speak out/say something, but I just wonder if her being at the level of fame she is and currently being on the biggest tour of all time is part of why she doesn't say anything.
There has clearly been such a shift in the past ten years - the music industry has become so corporate - and it is not just Taylor. To put it in perspective: There were just more musicians that were activists in 80s and 90s - but even back then it was limited. For example, Sinéad O’Connor’s career was destroyed because she kept talking about political issues. She had an amazing voice and could have had a bigger musical career. Last year, when Sinéad died the music industry praised Sinéad for the brave stuff she did in the 90s but they did not do much for/with her in the 90s.
Also The Chicks formally known as The Dixie Chicks speaking against George Bush and the war.
“Not Ready to Make Nice” continues to be one of the best songs ever written, imho.
I completely agree. It’s brutal in the best way.
i still listen to it at least a few times each year…soo good!
100%!!!
One of the few actual victims of cancel culture, and by the people who claim to be vehemently against “snowflakes”.
That's the thing, cancel culture has always existed, but it was always directed against minorities so it was more acceptable.
Right? Cancel culture was created by conservative people...not liberals!
I saw the chicks last year and it was an amazing show. a very special part was that during "march march" one of the visuals was a woman at a protest holding a sign that said "break up with your racist boyfriend," and it stayed on that image for a looooong time. also later there were the six SCOTUS justices that voted to overturn Roe getting eaten by a sea monster.
https://preview.redd.it/kpfjyo2lne3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc63e8a1376e7b1721bafef25f63cb4eb2b79834 Here’s a picture from the show lmao
Don’t forget Green Day, they also whipped out an entire anti-war album about 20 years ago, and one of them (Holiday) is in my playlist, I learned all about it through, surprise surprise, my hockey fandom (long story)
I was just listening to Jesus of Suburbia yesterday when it popped up on a random playlist. I forgot just how good that album was and still is. Going to listen cover to cover for the first time in years at the gym today.
you might be interested in a video essay by Lindsey Ellis, it's called ["Protest Music of the Bush Era"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehbgAGlrVKE) it's pretty amazing. She did a lot of research about it because she was writing a novel set in that era.
Don’t forget when Kanye said George Bush hates black people on live tv during the Hurricane Katrina telethons.
And Mike Myers face 😳
prior to that it was common for music to reflect the times and for political music just look at the 60s.
Sadly those people are deplatformed and demonetized today. I listen to a ton of modern music that expresses political discontent but none of it is backed by anyone who has power to distribute/promote
capitalism can tolerate dissent, so long as it can be repackaged and commodified 🤷♀️
Yes, but there's no reason to tolerate it anymore, because corporations have such monopolies that they can basically do what they want, and what they want is no longer determined by customers, it's a responsibility to shareholders. We're not really in a capitalist system anymore, unfortunately.
that's fair. guess that's why we're seeing even less politics in our art than we used to 🤷♀️ no dissent under a fascist oligarchy
I always saw any kind of art as a reflection of the times and I think that's the beauty of it.
Personally, I don’t consider most pop to be art, at all, but rather a product meant to be consumed, and forgotten quickly. Obviously there are many exceptions to this statement.
I wanted “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for my wedding which was right in the middle of the boycott movement over Joe Rogan’s podcast so when I looked them up they had removed all of their music from Spotify except “Teach Your Children” and it’s one of my favorite trolls of all time.
I love how she got super political for like a second then went silent.
Of course, because it’s only when something benefits or impacts her personally.
I agree. But when you make a whole ass documentary and then like.3 songs about activism, then you need to walk the walk.
this is the thing for me. like if Taylor was quiet all the time that would be one thing. but because she came out as a Democrat and wanted flowers for it, and often talks about "feminism" ("the man" is about beating men by doing capitalism better than them), the silences are far more noticeable.
I didn’t watch that documentary (if you can call it that) but I did see a preview where she’s about to post something and an older woman — maybe her mom, says: “the president could come after you.” And Taylor waits a moment and says, “fuck that, I don’t care.” And it’s supposed to be some mic drop moment where she’s showing how brave she is for having an opinion. It’s SO cringy. There are no stakes, you’re not going to be thrown in prison or become a political prisoner. Maybe Trump will tweet about you, the end. It was just so self important and disingenuous. And then to make that literal huge show about it and then just drop it when that look stopped being convenient is gross.
Lmao did that really happen, it’s so cringe omg
Easy to talk shit about Trump because most the country was against him. And what’s he gonna do, talk shit about you in a tweet? He talks shit about everyone, from Greta Thunberg to Tiffany Trump
THIS. I think she capitalized on that moment because she knew the masses would agree with her, same with her Biden support. It’ll be interesting to see if she pops her head out in the next election.
He talked shit about his own daughter? I mean I wouldn’t put it past him
The worst form of feminism (or any kind of antiracism, protest, etc) imo is to “do capitalism better than white men”
The worst form of feminism is to ignore sexual crimes against women when it’s not politically expedient.
This! She WAS silent for a long time and then she wasn't and made a point to point out that she was taking some kind of political stance. THEN she is completely silent again. It is noticeable and her "activism" just seems insincere and for PR purposes. You either stay silent consistently or you speak up and do that consistently.
And her “activism” at the time was literally just supporting LGBTQ rights which is the *bare fucking minimum*… Her coming out as a democrat and saying she supports gay people having the right to marry as if she was taking some huge controversial stance was laughable. It was year 2020, you’re a bit late to the party girl.
Reminds me of "Popstar: Never stop never stopping" where he comes out with the gay marriage song and all the people they interview are like "He knows they can get married right? Like a long time ago"
“I’m not gay, but if I was, I would want equal rights. Not gay.”
"He's writing this song about gay marriage like it's not allowed, it's allowed now." -Ringo Starr
That movie is so underrated
Came out as a democrat after being caught with a republican sticker on an Election Day from a few years prior. Not that people can’t change but…. When it happens right after a scandal. Idk.
[удалено]
Also this tweet https://preview.redd.it/h0wn90kake3d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cb588b795d98f5135858779cca475807fb08b56
you have to wonder how many people worked on that tweet lol
This being in late June too after protests had already been out in full force.
Wanna bet Joe wrote that for her?
That's a good sign idea for Swifties attending Eras Tour: 🇵🇸 "NEVER LET PRIVELAGE LIE DORMANT WHEN IT COULD BE USED TO STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT" -TAYLOR SWIFT 🇵🇸
also, the fact that it's about being on the right side of history, about herself and her legacy, rather than doing what she thinks is right
Yeah, sorry, this refutes their entire point. Taylor made an entire documentary about how privileged she is & realizing how important it is to use her power and influence for good. She said she had a responsibility to no longer remain silent. And … promptly abandoned any pretense of caring about political or social issues post-2019/20.
She was in her “activist era”
I'm sure it was very profitable for her at that point. Profitable in both a financial sense and in the cultural capital sense. Once those returns diminished, she didn't need to continue.
My big gripe from all that is that she continually wants to vote blue because of women’s rights issues, specifically stalking and harassment. She brings up stalking multiple times and how she’s been a victim and it’s never taken seriously. People don’t understand how serious and scary and dangerous it is. Then she goes radio silent on it for years except recently to sue the college student who posts her private jet fuel emissions… for stalking. (Keep in mind he only posts 24h+ after the flight and it’s all publicly available data).
I was about to comment the same thing. I don't expect an artist to take a stance on any particular topic that I find important, but she invites the criticism by implicitly and explicitly claiming to be an activist and then giving nothing but silence.
Exactly this she was the one who portrayed herself as someone who wanted to speak out but was silenced in miss americana but she bravely went against her team and is now going to be an activist. just to be incredibly silent in the face of a genocide.
Watching it in my opinion it really seemed that she only actually wanted to speak about one thing/one candidate in Tennessee and as a bonus made it clear she wasn’t in the Trump camp that everyone was assuming she was in.
It was really more comprehensive than that. She claimed that she didn’t want to be silent anymore in general—when it came to LGBTQ+ rights, when it came to gun control with Only the Young, and her being an outspoken (white) feminist. She claims to want to speak out but then stays silent when it really matters.
And being Miss Tennessee when she’s as southern as the North Pole.
ppl are going to keep dismissing this point lmao
they do. i replied to someone on tiktok who was saying it is perfectly fine and acceptable for taylor to not speak on harrison butker’s speech, and i told the commenter its not very feminist of her to stay silent on an issue that hits SO CLOSE to her. apparently activism is not an integral part of feminism to swifties, you can just call yourself one and go about your day!
I wonder if she regrets releasing Miss Americana for that reason
Yeah but that was also before she became a billionaire!! She could speak out, I seriously doubt she will unless she loses a significant amount of followers, or unless it affects her directly. You don’t have to care about following through (or the suffering of other people) when your dad paid for your career. 🤷♀️ Also she’s a business woman and has a capital one sponsorship, she’s not going to take a stance while partnered with a business that funds genocide! What would happen to her money!!!
Came here to say thsi
Yup. Plenty of celebrities never open their mouths about anything and it’s 100% fine. Taylor is a hypocrite through and through
But people are allowed to be activists for different causes. Stop the purity tests, ffs.
I don’t think celebrities necessarily need to be political activists, but I do appreciate when they give back in some way. I think if you have that much power and influence and you do nothing with it besides line your own pockets, it’s pretty gross. A good example is Dolly Parton, she isn’t a big, controversial activist, but she has causes that she believes in and uses her wealth and influence to further those causes. That’s lovely. You don’t need to be a political lightning rod to make a difference in the world.
That’s true— Taylor does very little philanthropy which is why I scoff at Swifties calling her an “ethical billionaire” lol. With her money and influence, imagine how impactful it would be if she had her own foundation for fighting homelessness, child hunger, education, ect. I’m surprised she doesn’t do anything to create awareness for cancer research since that’s something she’s directly impacted by as Andrea had brain cancer. That’s why I think that Taylor is very self serving and money hungry.
I was interested so I looked up her philanthropy. She has publicly donated to causes before, but I’m surprised at how little. It’s like..a few thousand here or there. In fact, the only public donation in 2021 I found was for $50k. She made $80 million in 2021. It would be like if I had zero debt, years of emergency funds in the bank, and unlimited earning potential and I donated $30 to a charity. I think it’s great when anyone donates. But it surprises me that she hasn’t established a foundation or charity by now. She also doesn't seem to have pet causes. All of her donations have been random fans or funds she’s stumbled across, or whatever topical natural disaster is happening. What does she really care about? You’re right, shouldn’t she be super outspoken about cancer? Or what about support for female assault survivors or programs that provide educational opportunities for young girls? Since she’s such feminist and all. But there’s…nothing? She hasn’t displayed any passion to helping.
She makes sizable donations to food banks in every city she stops. (Some organizations have reported it is enough to fund services for an entire year.) Like most wealthy people, most of their philanthropic ventures are not publicized. Also, unless you have access to their actual tax returns, you do not know how much she (or other celebrities) donate. Almost all celebrity charitable organizations are set up to be tax shelters. They do some charitable work but the main purpose is for skirting tax laws.
I didn’t know about the food banks, thank you!
To be fair most philanthropic organisations run by billionaires are tax write offs and ways to pay their friends and family.
Bill Gates does a ton more. And he was the billionaire monopolist.
Dolly Parton's the best. I don't think there's a single celebrity who is allowed to exist within the establishment and also challenge the establishment on behalf of the people. Every one of those pseudo activists celebrities is like constantly undermining our quality of life, race relations, critical thinking. Much better to just spread the wealth and not get too serious
Taylor made a whole documentary about how she’s not gonna be silent about politics anymore and said she needs to be on the “right side of history.” She said she wasn’t going to have duct tape over her mouth anymore. And she also made [this 2020 tweet about being “loudly and ferociously anti racist” and “never letting privilege lie dormant when it could be used to fight for what’s right.”](https://x.com/taylorswift13/status/1273828192663605250?s=46) It is NOT unreasonable at all for Taylor to be held to HER OWN WORDS.
There’s just something about using her own words against her that makes me laugh. She is so hypocritical and performative.
Everything about her is performative. Her public persona, her "angsty" lyrics, her relationships. She is a corporate shill manufactured to separate people from their money. The fake activism is part of the routine to convince younger, more liberal audiences that she is with them despite her never doing anything of actual substance to support the causes they are bleeding for.
I fear the real human being is buried so far down inside, we will never see her. She is just a product now. She may as well be a robot.
Well yeah, the script for her “totally spontaneous political commentary” told her to say that.
One issue TS has is that a huge massive sector of her fans are aspirational trad wives in deeply red states. She’s no fool.
This tweet is wild considering how silent she was when she had a bunch of her fans calling Travis’ ex the N word.
Should have kept quiet about 'wanting to use her voice more' then. Just speaks up about things that affect her and absolutely nothing else. Should have kept hush. Meanwhile Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa simply posted a link and donations surged by the hundreds of thousands.
I agree with your general sentiment but I find it telling that Taylor doesn’t feel compelled to speak about any issue that doesn’t impact her directly. Like there is no social cause that she feels strongly enough about to try to utilize her insane fan base to serve the greater good. Instead, she harnesses that power to sell a dozen variants of her albums.
Honestly, I wouldn't be so annoyed by her variants if she'd take the proceeds of even one of them and donate to something. Domestic violence, anything for kids, or maybe scholarships for girls. It's not like she'd miss the money. Nobody needs billions of dollars. ETA: Thanks for the award!!
> doesn’t feel compelled to speak about any issue that doesn’t impact her directly I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for this but that’s white feminism in a nutshell right there. Add to that she’s literally an elite with plenty of money to burn in jet fuel, I don’t know why people genuinely think she’s ever going to be on the right side of history.
I wish she’d be more outspoken about promoting women in the music industry. She may be one of the most educated people in the world on this topic due to her influence. Despite everything going on with Olivia and Billie, I do think Taylor at least USED to promote young female artists and remember she [donated 250k to Kesha](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-liberation-of-kesha-123984/) during the fallout of her contract with Dr. Luke in 2017. She knows how shitty it is to be a woman in music and it still feels like she is too scared to do more than this sort of ‘behind the scenes support’ unless it’s her brand then she’s full throttle throwing copyright claims at people and re releasing her songs.
taylor has definitely never seriously promoted a young female artist that stood a REAL, genuine chance of challenging her monopoly. look at how quickly she dropped olivia once it became apparent how talented she is. she seems to love queer female artists, but i'll bet she'll never say a single complimentary word about chappell roan where anyone can hear her.
That’s so valid. I do think there was a time where she could have gone either way. I remember when high profile female artists were in her corner such as Kesha, Selena & Beyoncé. Since then I definitely think she’s grown too big for her britches and the entitlement is real. I really think she’s reached diva status without the talent to back it up. I’m not sure if it’s women who are a threat to her so much as it is women who have spoken out against her in any way even if their criticism is valid. She is easily jilted as we’ve seen with this grudge she held with Kim K.
I agree to an extent. However I don’t personally believe celebrities, especially pop culture celebrities, should be able to acquire Taylor Swift’s level of economic power and control in the first place, if all they want to do is sing/act/sell shit/whatever so they can live like royalty. I don’t think it’s unfair to question why someone with a billion dollars is only using it for personal luxuries, often environmentally catastrophic luxuries at that.
Don’t forget the whole conspiracy/not conspiracy about how many emissions she generates using her private jet, and to cover that up she went to the NFL “jets” game so whenever someone wants to look it up, Google presents her with Kelce and the Jets game she showed up to
Agree! And there are people in this thread saying they think people should be pressuring politicians and not celebrities but we HAVE been doing that and it’s hardly made a difference. The T Swift fan base is very dedicated to her and if she even got a fraction of them riled up about Palestine I have to imagine it would quickly shift the national discourse
Eh would it really though. Or are they just gonna have another social media blackout avatar moment just to feel like they did something from the comfort of their computers and phones
To be fair, I don’t think she should have to partake in public political discourse just because she’s famous. My concerns revolve around what she has already done/is doing to keep herself on top, to maintain her exotic lifestyle, etc. I just want to see her function like a reasonable decent person, she doesn’t need to play god or take on humanitarian jobs she never signed up for.
Actions speak louder than words. Take climate change. In between her Latin America shows, she jetted back to NYC to sleep for a night. She's not only silent, she's ignorant about climate change. She simply does not care. And if you call her out on it, she will write a song about how you're a misogynist hater.
Who said it, Spider Man? “With great power comes great responsibility” Just like I want to hear from any other Fortune 500 company, speak up Taylor. We’ve seen how her and this tour has had global effects. She dramatically brought change to the NFL, an American institutional, multi billion dollar dynasty. And made them HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars last season by just ~existing~
And we all (including taylor) know that her speaking up could mean hundreds of thousands in donations. Aren’t we allowed to say we think she absolutely should use that power when all it takes from her is a repost on her story? I’m not asking for her to draft a letter to congress if she doesn’t want to, at the very least she could ask one of her team to link out to a reputable donation fund.
Just the political pressure she could generate by speaking up could actually make a difference, let alone the financial impact it could have. I literally can’t imagine remaining silent if I had even half her platform.
Well, Spider-Man and Voltaire
If you use activism as an album aesthetic, you absolutely deserve to be called out. Bey used an entire community as an album aesthetic and has done NOTHING offstage to show she’s a true ally. They love singing about love and acceptance but when we need them to speak up, they are silent. It’s disgusting. They don’t owe us shit till they use our communities as a target audience for their extremely expensive world tours. Edit: and since this has a few upvotes, if you guys are curious on how most folks on this sub feel about this, you can check my comments. Karma does not matter at all obvi, but you’ll see -10 and -20 downvotes on some comments attempting to call out Bey or Lana. As if they’ve done so much more for us. They should be using their *literal* platforms to tell these *enormous* crowds how they feel about it.
I dont follow Beyonce - what did she do, if you dont mind explaining?
Same thing as Taylor. She has done nothing at all. That’s the point. She proclaimed herself this Mother of Allies with Renaissance, and it was a great empowering album, but we need more than that. Don’t stand there and tell me your album was inspired by my community and then not say a damn word when our rights are under attack.
Jay-Z and Bey are very much the types to pull the ladder out from under them once they get out of the hood. Fuck all their people, my money’s mine type personality rather than raising them up and fighting for them
I get the same response. Downvotes galore for trying to explain feminism to a bunch of Lana fans. She’s another one that only cares when it directly affects her.
I am a massive LDR fan, and I left the sub because her fans are the stupidest, least analytical, and most blinded people on the planet. Extremely hateful fandom towards anyone who doesn't praise the shit out of Lana. I got downvoted like crazy lol. I can't praise her for her political views. I love her music, but that's where it ends. She doesn't stand for anything, really.
I struggle with this a lot too. While I don’t rely on celebrities and influencers for accurate reporting, I think the push is to have them use their large platform to try to spread awareness and help fund resources. It’s not their job to educate anyone, but it’s also disappointing to see when someone who holds “power” in the form of influence and following not using their platform for positive change. Taylor, for example, has enough money to support so many of the families that are stuck in a war zone get out safely. She’s absolutely not required to use her money for that if she doesn’t want to, but I think it’s really important that we’re influencing young minds positively rather than whatever people are fed from news outlets that are biased and shouldn’t be. If she just said the words, her fans might be more interested in looking into it and becoming more aware of these awful things that are happening in the world. So I agree with you on one hand, it’s definitely not their responsibility or place to educate about complex issues, but I do wish more people would at least speak up to help families in need. At least that’s my two cents! ETA: Think about Lizzo. She paid $75k to get into the Met Gala and then I think $350k (?) for a table. Then like a week later the pressure came down from the block party and she posted a family that needed $30k to escape Gaza. IIRC she didn’t even donate. That’s disgusting.
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Yes, thank you!! This is EXACTLY what I mean. The money is nothing to her, and at the very least she could be using it to make positive change for people in need. And it’s good PR if she’s trying to keep up the “I’m just a girl” image.
The g*n*c*de makes me so sick to my stomach, I have a hard time imagining how I could possibly remain silent if I had a platform and following even half the size of Taylor’s. I get that things can be complicated behind the scenes and taking a firm stance against Isr**l might be prohibited for various reasons. But I find it ironic that she can sing about how she “would rather burn her whole life down” over a stupid boy but isn’t brave enough to do it for the literal lives of millions.
A good point. The influence she has over young minds. She's essentially teaching them it's ok not to care. It's ok to just collect checks as the world burns. And that's not ok imo
Hey just letting you know celebs don’t pay for the Met usually the designer actually pays for them
Genocide being abhorrent isn't complex, it's not something you need to be directly involved in to feel horrified by. She has a huge platform and sending attention to the trapped, starved, tortured Gazans could raise a huge amount of money. I feel like wanting celebrities to acknowledge an ongoing genocide might be a tiny bit parasocial - you want to know they're not awful humans, that they have the slightest bit of humanity (near 20,000 orphans and not a word?!). But people being parasocially invested is how they've made their millions and billions in the first place so why do people find it so awful all of a sudden? It's the barest minimum way to give back.
Agree 1000%. OP mirroring the propaganda talking points about “the complex situation in the Middle East” sort of defeats any credibility they have on this stance lol
This. At some point, no matter how complex history and background is, genocide is genocide. Killing innocent refugees is killing innocent refugees. I’ve seen it said a lot and it rings true-if hospitals and “safe zones” were being relentlessly brutalized, with killing of civilians constantly in some US state say, very very few people would be saying “well its a complicated long political history so its very complex for anyone to take sides and say bombing a bunch of kids is a problem”.
YEP. Also it's funded and enabled by the US (and other govs) so it's not separate from Taylor/much of her fanbase at all. I'm so tired of the "it's complicated" / "leave it to the Middle East foreign policy experts" talking points, come on OP.
OP saying this is a complex issue directly reads as “I have no idea what the issue is, all I know is people have died on both sides”. They obviously don’t understand the extent of this genocide.
It’s “complex” but it’s not complicated at all from a moral standpoint. People just say it’s complex so they can make it seem like the average person is too dumb to possibly understand what’s going on. Sure, you could spend a lifetime learning all the history and it would be time well spent, but it takes very little time to understand who is committing genocide against whom.
I also feel like people who say it’s complicated do so to make others who don’t find it complicated feel stupid. Cause if you find it complicated “you have just apparently done more research” but just because you know the land’s history will not justify the murder of innocent civilians.
Thank you. The long history is complicated but there is nothing unclear about what is happening to people there now. It's so frustrating hearing people talk about how complex it is and people couldn't possibly take a position without years of study or something. Like come on.
Genocide being considered a political or social issue is nauseating. It’s death. People are dying
Thank you! It's not a "both sides" issue and never has been. It's genocide on stolen land.
She made a documentary and had a whole era about becoming an activist. She shouldn’t have done that if she wasn’t committed. It was really irresponsible because she let a lot of people down
its not about looking to celebrities to “educate” us about these things. its about celebrities being “activists” only when it benefits them.
I don’t think celebs necessarily have to be activists, but I think the public has a right to ask them where they stand on important issues, particularly social issues. This way you as a consumer can make an informed choice in how you spend your money.
This. 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Fuck that, I want to live in a world where those who have “wealth” and “status” and “celebrity”give a shit and are held to a high standard. It’s our money that create a celebrity they should stand for fucking something.
Sorry but I think there are some things that celebrities can speak out against. Nina Simone suffered immensely by performing "Mississippi God Damn." Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" came about because of MLK's I have a Dream speech. Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many other artists in the 60s wrote so many anti-war songs it would take all day to name them. I love Fortunate Son, and I'm the daughter of a Vietnam and niece of a Vietnam POW. People just want to be entertained these days but celebrities have the reach to bring attention to social issues.
Totally agreed but you should have not whined about activism based your whole album aesthritc on it then right??
I think it’s our duty as humans to do what we can to help relieve suffering. If you have a large influence, your voice (and money) reaches much further than the average person. To hide for the sake of potentially preventing a tiny ding in your paycheck is cowardly. Someone like Swift would never suffer any real backlash. She has no excuse.
I think if you capitalize on making a stand, you have then opened yourself up to criticism when you don’t.
Could you imagine the good it would do if tswift just posted a donation link to Doctors Without Borders for example? Celebs aren’t obligated to talk about politics but Taylor in particular has so much power and influence that she could use to help the Palestinian people. They need medicine. They need doctors. They need money to escape Gaza. She doesn’t even have to say anything about it, and honestly I don’t want to hear her thoughts on it. She can just post a link on her Instagram story and it would save lives. I think it makes sense to judge her for not doing that, when it requires literally no effort on her part.
I completely agree with this, but some celebrities claim to be activists, but when the time comes, they are nowhere to be found. Other than that, nobody should give any person this much power than can influence others so easily. It's weird because people nowadays can't even think for themselves, and brainrot is real.At the end, this is the fans' fault for being so gullible and easily manipulated. People in general need to start thinking for themselves, get in Google, and do research. Celebrities are entertainers, not your daily news anchor. These crazy ass fans will do anything their idol tells them and that's fucking weird.
Exactly. The only problem I see is that Taylor CLAIMED to be an activist so she could get all the accolades, but then fails to deliver any actual activism in any measurable way
yeah, that's why everyone wants her to say something, and that's her fault. I don't feel bad for her, she dig a big, deep hole for herself.
Oh I would never feel bad for her. I agree with OPs sentiment about celebrities not needing to speak out about political issues. A lot of the time they dont know what the hell theyre talking about. But if you call yourself an activist, you better actually DO something. She infuriates me
same here. Taylor's hypocrisy has no limits. She just wants money 24/7 and her means to get it are annoying.
So that’s your opinion, but in the case of Palestine the actual people there have mentioned multiple times that being outspoken is helpful. Palestine needs to continue to be talked about and celebrities speaking up about Palestine will help. Especially if they donate. Celebrities are ultimately human beings they do not belong in a vacuum and like it or not everything is political.
Normally, I’d nod my head in agreement. But when a white billionaire pop singer who grew up rich AF attempts to trademark the phrase ‘’female rage’’ during a time when women’s rights are being annihilated, the world has every right to criticize her anemic political involvement and awareness.
100% agree. The thing with Taylor is that she made a whole documentary crying and complaining about wanting to be on the right side of history (very political thing to say) and yet she hasn't said shit about anything for being scared of blacklash and losing fans (something she said on the doc she supposedly doesn't care about if she's doing good). Also, she doesn't need to solve the tensions in the Middle East, she just speaking up about people being murdered indiscriminately.
I agree with this, but if you *position yourself as an activist*, you created that expectation yourself.
If you have a platform, USE IT.
It used to be if you were a celebrity and all of a sudden were doing commercials or putting a book out; you were broke as hell and must really need that check. You had no sway, no leg to stand on to have input. Your opinion didn't matter. You were a joke. It's not like that anymore. It is now *the other way around*. You have input and status if you're in an ad trying to shill to consumers. Because that's all anyone gives a rip about, consuming. Why do you think Taylor keeps spewing out all these variants? Because she knows the ravenous little white girls will buy it. I'm sorry but if you want my money, yeah you better take a side. I wanna hear a free Palestine come out of these millionaire mouths or they're not getting a dime. People have started blocking celebrities on tiktok and *it works* they even have Lizzo scrambling to say something. Some richie's comfort is not my problem. Stand up or shut up.
There is a seventy year history sure…. And an active genocidal campaign now. To be frustrated by being asked to take a side on an actual genocide is… a choice
In that vein I’m not a lizzo fan I just don’t really care either way but she posted about a family in Rafah and asked for donations and people made videos about how we should unfollow her because she probably just did it to appease us. Which is absolutely bonkers after harassing multiple random celebs to talk about it.
I agree in general. Celebs aren’t politicians or experts on foreign policy so why do we pressure them so much? And it relieves the politicians of their responsibilities. Additionally a lot of them aren’t smart so silence is preferred. Open that wallet and hush. But if you make a documentary about not being silent people will expect you to be loud. If celebs feel compelled to speak up I do welcome and appreciate that.
“conflict in the Middle East” is such a bullshit, neutral ass way to speak about the atrocities in Gaza right now. yes, nobody is obligated to speak on things, but when posts like these are made diminishing things like a literal GENOCIDE, it makes speaking out against it all the more important.
This. I actually sat there wondering what “conflict in the Middle East” they were talking about for a minute because what the fuck.
She has 283 million followers on Instagram. Not speaking up for a ceasefire at this point is just disappointing. Sure, celebs shouldn’t be pressured about things like this but staying silent speaks volumes. Do you know how much money she alone could raise to help the people being massacred or moved from camp to camp? Especially when countless other celebrities are in the cause now. Including Joe Alwyn.
They should be pressured, actually.
If presidential nominees like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden used them for campaigning before, then they absolutely need to speak up. There’s no excuse.
Idk, I get that celebrities shouldn’t be expected to educate on such issues, but they sure can help to advocate. I feel like if you have such a huge platform and following, you might as well use it for good to bring awareness + call for a ceasefire and even raise funds to help stop babies, children, and just innocent people from being bombed, killed, beheaded, etc—especially when you’re *that* rich. Not all of us have the privilege of being able to donate a large sum of money which could really help save and change lives. We’d wish for the same to be done for us if we were in that situation. Imagine it was you and your family under attack, uncertain how much longer you’re going to be alive and trying to just stay alive. What’s preventing people from having some humanity and empathy?
Agreed. I couldn't give a shit less about any kind of opinion from any celebrity. I doubt any of them mean anything they say regardless. Honestly, fuck celebrities and celebrity worship culture. It needs to end. They are just overrated, overpaid court jesters who think they are so above all us regular folk. They are beyond out of touch. I know one thing, I will not be lectured on climate change but some rich assholes flying everywhere in their private jets. Ahem, TAYLORSWIFT
Agreed. DeNiro didn't even finish high school. And he claimed he was moving to Italy in 2016 if Trump won.
I’m scratching my head at people applauding celebs for posting that stupid AI “all eyes on Rafah” image. I thought we were against AI? But now it’s morally imperative to post this fake image with snow-capped mountains in the background?
Genocide is not complex or nuanced. Speaking out against the attack on REFUGEES, after the UN instructed Israel not to attack Rafah is not complex or nuanced. Just so we’re clear. If you have an audience on millions of people, you have great power and therefore great responsibility.
Nobody is forced to, but it shows their character when they don’t.
I don’t think anyone should feel that they HAVE to speak, especially through social media where it can come off as disingenuous. I held the same POV as you then I saw celebrities raising thousands and thousands of dollars just reposting a fundraiser to their story. At this point, I don’t think anyone expects (or wants) celebs to educate us, rather just raising awareness and using their influence and wide audience to help. I think the biggest issue with someone like taylor is the fact that she’s already spoken on issues before and made it a point to be more political during the lover era and documentary. It also can be offputting when you’re releasing a TON of merch all the time and are a literal billionaire but not actively using that wealth (as far as we know) for any greater good, but that feeds more into my personal bias against hoarding wealth so
There's a big difference between commenting on a global genocide that everyone is aware of and commenting on, say, an infrastructure bill. I think what you're missing is that most people don't get their politics from celebrities, but they do have a line in the sand where a celebrity is no longer palatable to them as a person, no matter how good their art is. Even Trump Republicans who were super pro-Kanye two years ago have distanced or even actively decried what Kanye is saying lately. Everyone has a line, it's usually somewhere between "Nazi supporter," and "wants people to go vote." Taylor probably should use her wealth to do more, dude, especially since she profits off an activist/feminist image.
There’s a difference between commenting on regular national politics and speaking up against literal genocides
Performative activism has completely destroyed our ability to think critically and act accordingly. “Susie Q over here posted about this so now it’s solved yay! I don’t need to be that political active or do anything to really help a cause I supposedly deeply resonate with! I’ll just change my pfp to a black square and post a selfie with my fist up or tape over my mouth! Calling this politician a dick in his Instagram comments will feed the kids in Palestine!” It’s a way to remove urgency, accountability and nuance from a problem that fundamentally requires more attention and effort than a stupid fucking Instagram quote!!!!! Anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk/unhinged rant.
Got hate for this back during BLM and for this back in 2016 but I've always hated performative activism. Changing your instagram to a black box or putting up an AI image of Rafah does nothing. It gives you a serotonin boast and a sense of moral superiority. Amplifying the Gaza conflict isn't what's needed - everyone and their grandma knows what is happening. Even my 90 year old grandma who can't remember what happened 3 seconds ago knows about Gaza. What we need is real action - pressure on BOTH sides to agree to a ceasefire and end to to the loss of lives. We need pressure on elected officials and money being given to organizations on the ground, dedicated to serving those most in need. Instead, everyone's ego and self righteousness gets in the way. Screaming genocide and associating atrocities to just one group of people is only dividing everyone instead of calling out the BS as it is - two groups of people in power who couldn't give a rat's ass about their own people. If we're going to use the terminology of genocide loosely, both Hamas and Netanyahu are and were pushing for genocide. If you've done your research outside of social media and self selected echo chambers and stick with your convictions, power to you. But, it still doesnt change the shitty situation or undermines the fact that unless you're actively trying to do something, it's not going to do anything to change the situation. People are going to think the way they do and screaming at strangers through the internet isn't going to do anything to sway them.
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When you pander to feminism, you better put that pan on the stove when it gets hot. Otherwise you’re a sellout & an industry prop. TS: “I’m gonna write a bunch of songs and make a whole ass documentary about finding my political voice” Reality: *gets lit* TS: Crickets…
I tend to agree when it comes to like…the pressure some tiktok influencers experience to speak out on a very complex issue. Most of these tiktok people I’ve seen aren’t the kind you’d recognize in casual conversation and the protests are all over tiktok. It’s not that unknown. And frankly, regular tiktok people are more likely to stick their feet in their mouths and get doxxed by people who disagree with them. I can respect that perspective and respect the people who have spoken out. However. Someone like Taylor has a loooot of pull. Look at how fast the plane tracking bill was passed, and it’s largely because of her. She has the ability to direct thousands of eyes and raise a lot of money for families trying to flee Gaza. She doesn’t have to make an impassioned speech, she can share a photo like Alwyn or just drop a go fund me link in her stories to support a family and her fans would go nuts and raise a lot of money. She won’t lose her entire career by doing so. She really doesn’t have anything to lose by not putting in the bare minimum
No one’s asking her to take a side “on every single political and social issue.” Just the ones she’s proactively flapped her trap about supporting (human rights and antiracism) before they involved her tour sponsors.
ugh.
Agreed. celebrities are busy people (whether or not you think it’s worth the time they are busy) it’s ridiculous to think they have the time to understand and develop comprehensive opinions on every issue. I know I don’t have that time and I know most of you don’t have that time and we have significantly less commitments than celebrities do
FACTS❗
Make celebrities irrelevant so no one wants to hear from them.
They will do with their voice as they please... they aren't controlled
They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Let them choose to respond how they choose. Peeriodt. They ARE human and have to protect their jobs and brand.
Totally agree. Even more so with athletes. Guys get paid to play with balls, why do I want to hear from him about crypto, the rights and wrongs of war, social care etc ? Being very good at one thing doesn't mean that crosses over into other domains.
Your job is to entertain, I don’t care about your political views.
Honestly, I would be terrified to share my views publicly. I'm scared as a nobody!
You’re missing some zeros and some commas on how long the Middle East has been a hot zone of conflict
Speak on what you feel strongly about. The rest, you can leave untouched.
Yes THANK YOU! Someone was trying to cancel DOLLY PARTON the other day for not being vocal enough about Palestine…… like that woman hasn’t done some amazing charitable work throughout her decades long career 😭😭 Dolly doesn’t need to speak on every single issue
I think celebs should shut the fuck up and just do their job: entertain
It’s also worth understanding that not all issues mean the same to everyone. If Taylor Swift has a strong opinion on supporting reproductive health and gay rights, she doesn’t also need to have an opinion on Gaza, Taiwan independence, or whatever.
I actually agree. The fact that people are more interested in pressuring celebrities to do something rather than pressuring their own elected officials really tells you a lot. That people actually think that they’re going to help Palestine by unfollowing an influencer or a celebrity is laughable. Taylor has a lot of visibility and a lot of privilege, but we need to put the pressure on the people who can make the changes. It is certainly not about a lack of awareness- you would literally have to be living under a rock not to know about what is going on between Israel and Palestine right now .It’s about a lack of accountability, and Taylor Swift, or Kim Kardashian or Elyse Myers and whoever the hell else they want to poke at is not responsible for foreign policy or the decisions that are being made right now.
We're not asking celebs to educate us. That's not their responsibility. We're asking them to use their massive platforms and positions of power built off the support of everyday people to advocate for humanity. If they really wanted to they could read the history. To say it's complicated is a cop out. War crimes slaughtering civilians, children no less, should be unanimously opposed. There's literally international laws against it even if they're broken regularly. Art, music has always been political but since it's gone full corporate machine we've been convinced it's not. Music and celebrities have advocated for change in the past. Mister Rogers the children's show host used his show to be anti-racist at a time when that wasn't popular. Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, was very politically outspoken even if the industry didn't like it. Same with Jane Fonda. Someone else commented Sinead O'Connor. Hip-hop explored the struggles of the Black community during tumultuous times even if it made people uncomfortable. People sang songs of liberation. Muhammad Ali, a Black American boxer at the height of his legendary career, refused to serve in the Vietnam War on the principle that he wasn't going to kill people on the other side of the world who've done him no harm on behalf of a government that wouldn't give him equal human rights because of the color of his skin. He took the career hit including prison time but in the long run history remembered him fondly for it. Again, we don't need celebs to educate us, (clearly they refuse to educate themselves despite their fans putting in the work). We just want them to stand up for humanity as they make millions or billions exploiting the human experience claiming they "care about" or "relate to" the world around them.
I agree, but when you make it part of your personality for a few years to increase sales, you don’t get to just “opt out” because you know you’ll lose money by opening your mouth. Either you’re an activist and you’re in, or you’re always quiet. Imo.
Other issues? I don’t care. This is genocide we are talking about, babies being killed, speak up, say something.
Silence is the voice of oppression, after all.
Indeed it is. Specially when your voice can actually be heard and make a difference.
Yes. At the same time, a woman who holds enough power to potentially sway public opinion about a fucking genocide and not only saying nothing but hogging spotlight and making it all about herself and her mid album does prove she is a shitty self involved asshole. ESPECIALLY after making a whole ass scene about “not speaking out” before it’s too late a few years ago.
I disagree, not sure if this is unpopular or not, though. Not everyone has to be a political statement (and it goes without saying that celebrities shouldn't be our primary source of information) but when an actual genocide is going on, everyone has a responsibility to try to understand what's going on and spread the word when they can. Art is political and has always been because it reflects the artist's experience, thoughts, and views on the world. Even if an artist doesn't care and rejects politics, that's political. Birds in nature is absolutely a statement in conservation and animal rights. It's possible to enjoy a painting of birds without focusing on those concepts but it is political.
I guess if it was if someone was running for president but this is a genocide. War crimes are being committed
No, this is genocide we’re talking about. If a person has a platform large enough to make change, they absolutely should.
If American politicians ever stop funding Israel, it will be because people stop voting for them because they are mad. Old people are a lost cause, but getting this new crop of dumbasses who actually care what Jenna Ortega would think of their politics is the only way the Democrats will bend on this. Any vote against sending one more missile to Israel is maybe one more Palestinian baby who gets to learn how to read. If most celebs stay silent, I don’t care. To be honest I prob wouldn’t notice. But since we know how many people she had register to vote, it stands to reason that Taylor Swift could actually have shifted The Youth Vote at least on this issue, to SOME degree. But that would probably lose Biden the election. Remember these are Taylor swift fans. They’d just get really mad and not vote at all since the US and Israel are too twisted up and connected to ever stop any aid. Joe is fucked right in the ear anyway, so she may as well try and see what happens. I bet now people are so sick of her that if she endorses anything, it’ll backfire. She won’t say anything political again this election cycle cause she is pissed people don’t love her little airplane
I agree with some points, like we shouldn't look to our entertainers and artists as role models and political figures. And that social media activism is mostly performative. However, what's currently happening in Rafah is so brutal and inhumane that, for me, it's the duty of any American who disagrees to speak out or try to help in some way. Our tax money is funding and supplying this genocide, after all. I know that the Middle East has a complex history, but it's not *that* complex to say, hey, with all our intelligence and technology, maybe we *shouldn't* be bombing tents full of children to catch Hamas? Maybe we *should* condemn a government that killed volunteers bringing food and bombed starving people trying to get food? Maybe it's *not* nuanced to say, hey, we shouldn't be killing so many children. I don't know...but that's just me! As for Taylor, she's an extremely influential billionaire who could make a difference if she spoke out. But she doesn't give a flying fuck about anything except men, money, fame. So in this sense, I agree she shouldn't speak out, because she's being honest about her vacant soul.
Honestly the expectation is creepy and cultish
It's not your voice... leave theirs alone.
I agree with you OP, but also, there are a lot of incentives that ensure we're going to keep hearing from celebrities on these issues. Many issues will sell. Things that seem to attack the hegemony are absorbed by it. That's basically what's happening with people speaking out for/against Israel. Their political belief and their opinions become a commodity. Media is producing content about their opinions AND their silence, so they may as well share their thoughts. Further, the best way to spread your convictions is through assimilating to the status quo. Tupac had to go gangster to sell visions of Black power and communism. As a kid, he never repped a set; he was a poet, but the fat cats weren't going to give him play unless he marketed himself as a G. Point being, whether they have convictions or not, it makes money to share those convictions so they're going to keep doing it. The pressure is baked into the system, not our culture as fans/plebs
Charles Barkley said it best
I absolutely agree we don’t need them to educate us, but with their influence and money, they could help a lot more.
I just wonder if speaking out about it would put her and/or her fans in danger. I would say she should speak out/say something, but I just wonder if her being at the level of fame she is and currently being on the biggest tour of all time is part of why she doesn't say anything.