Taylor Swift's Lover era is one of rebirth, and while she has no interest in rehashing the events with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian that went down in 2016, she did use her new interview with Vogue to speak broadly about her mental health following the incident, and share her thoughts on cancel culture in general. The biggest problem, she says, is that those who participate in mob mentality don't truly grasp the consequences.
“A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,” she told the outlet. “I don’t think there are that many people who can actually understand what it’s like to have millions of people hate you very loudly...When you say someone is canceled, it’s not a TV show. It’s a human being. You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, Kill yourself.”
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That rhetoric has consequences, one of which was something Swift also received criticism for: silence around the election.
"All people were saying was She’s calculated. She’s manipulative. She’s not what she seems. She’s a snake. She’s a liar. These are the same exact insults people were hurling at Hillary. Would I be an endorsement or would I be a liability?" Swift wondered aloud in the interview. "Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women. The two nasty women. Literally millions of people were telling me to disappear. So I disappeared. In many senses."
But in recent months, Swift has reemerged as a vocal political artist, especially around LGBTQ+ issues. Her most recent music video, "You Need To Calm Down," ended with a petition for viewers to sign in support of The Equality Act. Back in 2018, she endorsed Democrats for the Tennessee Legislature and condemned the Republican running for Senate, Marsha Blackburn, due to her anti-LGBTQ+ stance.
Swift will officially burst out of her cocoon when Lover drops on August 23, leaving her days of cancellation behind for good.