Jessica McLane, a 30-year-old who claims she went to the same high school as Taylor Swift, has claimed that many of the superstar’s fellow classmates “hated” her and were “jealous” of her musical success. McLane made the claims in a viral TikTok, which has since gone on to rack up over 7 million views.
McLane says she attended Hendersonville High School in Nashville, Tennessee, at the same time as Taylor Swift for less than a year in 2006.
Taylor grew up in Pennsylvania but moved to Tennessee when she was 14 to pursue a career in country music. The star attended Hendersonville High School for two-and-a-half years before being homeschooled as her musical career began to take off.
“I went to the same high school as Taylor Swift; we grew up in the same town,” McLane claims in the TikTok. “When she first started becoming super successful, most people hated her. Keep in mind, these are her peers; this isn’t, like, just random people on the internet.”
“There were not a lot of people in high school who had nice things to say about her…There were general rumors about her being b***hy. [People would say,] ‘She said this, she said that, she was mean.'”
Naw #TaylorSwift is lowkey petty 🤣 [via jessicamclane/TikTok] #TaylorsVersion #Midnights pic.twitter.com/NI5Qp0Yb42
— MuchMusic (@Much) September 5, 2022
McLane explained that many of Taylor’s peers were also “trying to break into the industry.”
“Jealousy was definitely a thing,” she stated. “The 16, 17-year-olds who were trying to have a career in music at Hendersonville were playing downtown or at the local coffee shop, not winning awards.”
“It’s not that these people weren’t talented, it’s just that most people don’t make it. Also, back then, Taylor didn’t have as good a control over her voice as she does now, so there were a lot of people in high school who [felt they] were vocally a lot better.”
Some of the boys at the school were mad after Taylor started releasing songs that were about them. “Also, the guys she was writing these songs about they were still in school, they were still there. And now they have a hit song about them talking about what a s**ty boyfriend they are, you know?”
McLane went on to explain that in 2009, Taylor invited her entire senior class to the Country Music Association Awards , where she won four awards. McLane believes that this was an attempt by Taylor to show them how far she had come.
“As we all know, 2009 is the year that she killed the game. She invited us to the CMAs to say f**k you. And we deserved it. So to Taylor, touchĂ©, that was a good one.”
After some people doubted the account, McLane shared a video of her yearbook, which features several photos of a young Taylor Swift.
What do you make of the allegations?