Taylor Swift is on top of the world, but critics say she's done some sketchy things to get
there.
The country crooner-turned pop star has forged a wildly successful career that's been boosted
by her many high-profile feuds, legal battles, and endless innuendo.
She's been accused of copying other artists, and yet she ferociously attacks others who
might be riding her coattails.
From her controversial views on feminism to her odd business arrangements, let's take
a closer look at the shady side of Taylor Swift.
The other side
Swift has played coy about the inspiration behind some of her songs, but she's made it
clear that many of her songs are inspired by her real life relationships.
"I like writing songs about douchebags who cheat on me but I'm not gonna say that…"
Swift's fans have had no trouble figuring out who each song story is about, though,
and some of her apparent muses have fired back.
Musician John Mayer told Rolling Stone he was "humiliated" by "Dear John."
He said of the track:
"[It] made me feel terrible because I didn't deserve it.
[…] It was a really lousy thing for her to do.
I never got an email.
I never got a phone call.
I was really caught off-guard."
Mayer also bit back at Swift's decision to commit her complaints to lyrics, saying:
"I think it's kind of cheap songwriting.
I know she's the biggest thing in the world, and I'm not trying to sink anybody's ship,
but I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he
gets a load of this!'
That's bulls---."
Swift responded by telling Glamour that Mayer was being "presumptuous" about the track's
inspiration, but he isn't the only ex who's bitten back at her very personal writing style.
Joe Jonas also claimed Swift manipulated the facts regarding their breakup to drum up sympathy
at the expense of his reputation.
"There's one that's about that guy, but that guy's not in my life anymore, unfortunately."
Jonas responded to the backlash over her single "27 Second Phone Call" in a letter to fans,
writing:
"For those who have expressed concern over the '27 second' phone call I called [Swift]
to discuss feelings.
Those feelings were obviously not well received.
I did not end the conversation.
Someone else did.
Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to
talk."
She might be known for her brutal breakup anthems, but the boys who inspired them are
apparently unimpressed.
Exaggerated excitement?
When Taylor Swift first started collecting trophies for her music, her open-mouthed shock
face reaction to winning was endearing.
After a while, though, she started to seem disingenuous with her gaping expression.
The only time she seems genuinely shocked is when she loses to someone else.
Remember the sneer she threw at Adele during the 2013 Golden Globes, or her embarrassing
reaction when Daft Punk beat her for album of the year at the 2014 Grammys?
Swift candidly addressed the latter in an interview with Grammy Pro, saying:
"For a second, I kinda thought we had it.
I remember not going to after-parties.
I went home and I cried a little bit, and I got In-N-Out Burger and ate a lot."
That might sound a little dramatic, but that seems to be Swift's professional MO.
Crashing the Kennedys
In July 2012, Swift was feelin' 22…with a guy who just turned 18.
Conor Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, was barely of legal age when he started dating
Taylor Swift.
Despite some backlash about his age, Swift got invested in the relationship quick and
even bought a beach house near the Kennedy family estate in Cape Cod.
While the two were dating, she was also accused of crashing a family wedding with him against
the family's wishes.
Victoria GIfford Kennedy, mother of the bride, told The Boston Herald:
"[Conor and Swift] texted me an hour before the wedding and asked if they could come.
I responded with a very clear, 'Please do not come.'
They came anyway.
I personally went up to Ms. Swift, whose entrance distracted the entire event, politely introduced
myself to her, and asked her as nicely as I could to leave.
It was like talking to a ghost.
She seemed to look right past me."
Swift's camp denied the claims, but Today show host Kathie Lee Gifford, who was at the
wedding, insisted the incident happened exactly as Victoria described.
Heartbreaker
For all her scorned woman songs, Swift has allegedly broken at least two hearts to date:
Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston.
Swift and Harris split after more than a year of dating in early June 2016, and she and
Hiddleston were spotted together just days later.
What's more, Swift may have hooked up with Hiddleston before her relationship with Harris
was even over.
Swift first met Hiddleston at the 2016 Met Gala, and the two were spotted dancing together
by party attendants.
So, the fact that the two became a romantic item within weeks had some people suspicious.
The DJ himself was reportedly miffed when PDA photos of Swift and the Avengers star
went viral right after he and Swift broke up.
A source told E! Online:
"Calvin was very suspicious that Taylor was cheating during their relationship.
He just didn't know with whom.
[...] He is so angry and feels betrayed.
He is convinced that Taylor was cheating with Tom while they were still together."
She then seemed to confirm the situation with her Reputation album single, "Getaway Car,"
in which she sang the lyrics:
"I wanted to leave him / I needed a reason."
For a woman who spent so much time on the receiving end of heartbreak, you'd think she
might be a bit more considerate.
And yet, she wasn't done punishing Calvin Harris just yet.
Breaking her silence
Shortly before Swift and Harris ended their relationship, he released the massive hit
"This Is What You Came For," featuring Rihanna.
But once they called it quits, Swift stepped forward to demand credit for her secret songwriting
contribution to the track.
Swift revealed that she used the Swedish pseudonym "Nils Sjoberg" in the credits to prevent the
media from harping on the couple instead of the craft.
When Harris was asked if he would collaborate with Swift, he remained true to the their
agreement and said:
"You know, [Swift and I] haven't even spoken about [collaborating].
I can't see it happening though."
After the breakup, Swift's publicist released a statement notifying the world that Swift
co-wrote the song.
Evidently, she didn't want his parting gift from their split to be a smash hit that she
got no credit for, while he continued to trash talk her subsequent relationship.
To add insult to injury, more than a year later, Swift featured a gravestone of "Nils
Sjoberg" in her music video for "Look What You Made Me Do."
If she wasn't petty before, well, this situation really brought it out of her.
Lawsuit happy
In the fall of 2017, a blog called PopFront posted an essay criticizing Swift for not
speaking out against white supremacists who view her as an Aryan icon.
Variety reported that Swift's legal team contacted the blog's editor, demanding that the blog
be removed and accusing the writer of defamation.
The letter also claimed to be an official denouncement of white supremacy from Swift,
but Swift's attorneys also demanded copyright protection to keep the letter private.
The American Civil Liberties Union went on to publish the letter in its entirety, as
well as a letter of its own that took subtle jabs at Swift's own song titles.
Several other writers also tweeted about having to amend or remove stories Swift's team found
offensive.
Swift's legal team is also apparently quick to threaten lawsuits if anyone so much as
references her work.
In February 2015 Swift's team threatened legal action against fans who used the phrase "this
sick beat" on Etsy items.
Then later that year, Allison Kilkenny, host of the Citizens Radio podcast, revealed on
Twitter that Swift's team sent her a cease and desist letter after she discussed the
song "Wildest Dreams" on air, even though the song was never even actually played on
the show.
Though Swift's copyright and trademark claims made major headlines, it's not a new thing.
The Nashville Post reported that in 2009, Swift's "merchandise enforcement team" targeted
24 people who allegedly violated some of her unknown and unspecified trademarks.
She won an injunction against 16 of the 24 defendants.
Despite her insistence on protecting her own trademarks, though, Swift has been accused
of disrespecting others' work with her own.
Swift's music video for "Delicate" features Swift in a formal red carpet event, becoming
invisible and then dancing around Los Angeles without abandon.
Critics quickly noticed the dramatic similarities between this video and a 2016 Spike Jonze-directed
ad for the fragrance Kenzo World.
In that ad, actress Margaret Qualley dances and makes many of the same facial expressions
as Swift, leaving a formal event to let loose on her own.
Even the choreography is similar.
Considering how lawsuit happy her squad has been in the past, it's hard to believe her
lawyers wouldn't have had a field day with that one if the situation was reversed.
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