Sam Smith Likes Taylor Swift, Thinks Other Pop Stars Are Mean

If you're a male musician set to be interviewed by GQ, it's safe to assume that they'll be asking you about Taylor Swift. You play music. Of course you have an opinion on her. If you're Diplo, that opinion is enormously backhanded and sort of paranoid. If you're Sam Smith, though, you see Tay-Tay as nothing more than sweetness and light.  Other pop stars? Well...not so much. It seems Mr. Smith has been dealing with some Mean Girls/Boys types, besides that cranky Howard Stern.  "You know, I want to be the biggest star in the world, but I also want to maintain the soulfulness," the newly single Brit told the magazine. "I don't want to lose my mind or my humor. I want to be a pop star, but I also don't want to be a pop star. I won't name names, but I will never act like some of the current pop stars have acted toward me. We can be friends, you know? We can. It's not a competition. There's space for all of us. There's always space for good music." Let the speculating begin. Smith himself cleared Mary J. Blige and Chaka Khan, both of whom have taken him under their wing. Swift can also be eliminated as a suspect. After all, they palled around for her 25th birthday. "Taylor Swift is amazing," Smith gushed. "I sang with her in London once but didn't get to properly chill with her. Then, at the American Music Awards, I got to sit down with her and chat. She's a role model. I really respect her. And, she manages to sell a lot of records and make a lot of people happy financially, but also to keep that soulfulness, that honesty."   Maybe he's talking about Tom Petty and having to share his "Stay With Me" royalties (not unfairly so, by the way). Maybe Justin Timberlake is out for blood. Maybe Adele has decided there can only be one British balladeer. Maybe everyone just needs to hug it out.