Taylor Swift just can’t do right by anyone these days. In terms of PR, things looked good when the Washington Post reported that Swift has decided to publicly support gun reform .
“On Friday afternoon, Taylor Swift published an Instagram post that took many people by surprise: A logo for this weekend’s March For our Lives, the student-led rally urging Congress to take action on gun control and stop mass shootings.”
The article added that Swift pointed out that nobody should have to go to school, a nightclub, or to a concert in fear of gun violence.
“I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March for Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform,” Swift said.
However, many commenters are claiming that Swift’s support isn’t altruistic. The comments after a similar article on Slate weren’t very flattering.
“She’s playing the celebrity ‘don’t offend anybody’ game. It’s what she does; paying the mortgages depends on it,” read a comment.
“Eventually she would have to address the widespread assumption that she tacitly endorses rightwing-nutjob beliefs,” claims one commenter, hinting that Swift is using the situation to save her brand.
Then, there’s Twitter.
So, @taylorswift13 is now tweeting support for #MarchForOurLives Fake as ever and exploiting current events to sell records.
— Julio Flores (@lilmonsterjulio) March 24, 2018
Many on Twitter seem to also think that Swift is trying to rebrand her image as the “Queen of Woke,” instead of the “Queen of the Alt-Right,” even though Swift has never claimed to support the Alt-Right, Nazis, or any extremists. However, the suggestion that she is the Alt-Right’s darling has done some damage to her reputation.
Speaking of “Reputation,” Swift’s album by the same name has just crossed the 2 million mark. CNN has the news .
“Taylor Swift has sold more than 2 million copies of ‘Reputation’ — making it the first album to accomplish that feat since Adele’s ’25’ in 2015, according to Nielsen tracking figures,” notes columnist Chloe Melas, adding that all six of Swift’s previous albums also passed the 2 million mark.
However, as many have noted, Taylor Swift’s latest album has sold far less than her previous efforts. Brittany Hodak from Forbes explains that Reputation has taken 17 weeks to reach the 2 million milestone — that’s longer than Taylor’s past three albums combined. However, Hodak also says that, in no way, should sales of 2 million albums be considered a flop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yQDZDoO7I
One of the main problems with Taylor Swift during this album cycle is that she has failed to produce a memorable hit single. Sure, “Look What You Made Me Do” hit No. 1, but it plummeted down the charts afterwards. “Ready For It” debuted in the top five, but dropped off faster than Swift’s previous single. And her duet with Ed Sheeran, “End Game,” has failed to make any kind of impact.
Then, there is Swift’s Reputation World Tour. Many sources, including the New York Post , have claimed that the tour is flopping, but as the Inquisitr reported a couple months back, that’s not completely true. Taylor Swift will make a lot of money from her current tour, but it is selling a lot slower than her previous tours. Let’s hope Taylor Swift can put on a great show and overcome the current backlash she is facing.