Taylor Swift responds to backlash after criticism over cashing in on Pride month
The singer faced criticism after releasing LGBTQ anthem 'You Need to Calm Down'
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Taylor Swift has responded to backlash after she was criticised for exploiting Pride month and the ‘pink pound’.
During this year’s Pride month, Taylor released ‘You Need to Calm Down’ and the video featured many LGBTQ celebrities and allies including Queer Eye’s Fab Five and Ellen DeGeneres.
The lyrics of the second verse see Taylor sing: “You are somebody that we don’t know / But you’re comin’ at my friends like a missile / Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD) / Sunshine on the street at the parade / But you would rather be in the dark ages / Makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night.”
This marked the first time that Taylor showed direct support for the LGBTQ community after years of not speaking about her political stance, be it who she was supporting in the 2016 presidential election, or where she stood on LGBTQ equality.
However, the song and her support faced backlash from members of the LGBTQ community who claimed the singer was cashing in on Pride month after years of silence.
But now, Taylor has opened up about the criticism in a new interview with Rolling Stone where she says ‘baseless criticism is stuff I’ve got to toss out now’.
She said: “The question posed to me is, if you kept trying to do good things, but everyone saw those things in a cynical way and assumed them to be done with bad motivation and bad intent, would you still do good things, even though nothing that you did was looked at as good?
“And the answer is, yes. Criticism that’s constructive is helpful to my character growth. Baseless criticism is stuff I’ve got to toss out now.”
Watch the video below: