I say that I like Taylor Swift. I’m nowhere near the superfans that spend thousands on her concert tickets, but I enjoy a few of her songs and I’ve been listening to her music since I was six. My mom has a video of me singing “Trouble” in the back of the car as a child; puffy, yellow winter coat, purple owl hat and all. My sister, on the other hand, has turned into a die-hard fan of Swift. That’s fine, I can put up with her music for a while, but does Taylor Swift really deserve all this love she’s been getting recently?
To me, Swift was never problematic like other artists were, which is great based on today’s standards. That is, until I hear that she’s close to being a billionaire. This brings to mind Dolly Parton not being a billionaire as a result of her philanthropy. She donates countless resources to charities and research centers to keep herself from getting too rich.
This is not the only “problem” I’ve seen circulating about Swift. Another is her naivete about how she, as a rich person, is affecting the environment. Most people are speculating that she’s just a little bit stupid and doesn’t realize the impact she’s making, but it’s not confirmed. There’s a small chance that she’s like every other billionaire and doesn’t care. But, people are quick to forgive her because she’s created such a good light to shine on her. Her fans think that Swift could do no wrong, and she must not know about the harmful ways she’s affecting the planet.
This is ultimately problematic, as she’s not given the same consequences (negative backlash and hate over social media) as other rich people. You could be asking, have these other billionaires not made big names for themselves? But the answer is simple, really: Pretty privilege. Swift got popular through her country and pop albums, sure, but she also endorses countless brands because she’s a model of sorts; she’s allowed to be because she’s pretty and people know who she is and like her music enough. Therefore, people are much more okay with her being a billionaire whether she knows she’s causing harm or not; which is a double standard and generally hypocritical.
So, how is everyone reacting to this? Like any celebrity issue, people are picking sides; usually attacking people on the other over the internet. Lots of things I see are opinions along the lines of “I don’t hate Taylor Swift, but X, Y, and Z reasons are why I don’t support her anymore.” This is usually considered the neutral opinion, which I mostly agree with also.
Then, there are the extremes: Either “I hate Taylor Swift and she’s no different than any other rich person” and “I love Taylor Swift and she can never do anything wrong ever no matter what.” Both of these opinions are valid if you agree with either, but the truth is that Swift is at risk for falling into capitalism; whether she realizes it or not.
What should we do about this? To be honest, this issue isn’t really an issue. At least, whether Swift is inherently problematic or not isn’t. However, countless celebrities and wealthy people have bad habits of taking private jets just because they can.
In 2022, Swift caused the most carbon emissions by private jet of any person alive: 8,293.54 tons according to greenly.earth and 170 flights according to time.com. Although all aviation causes around 2.5% of pollution in America, an average person produces about 7 tons of emissions a year while celebrities average over 3,000 tons, according to time.com. I see this information on places like Buzzfeed and other trustworthy sights.
The silly thing about it is the way that some environmentalists purposely make others feel guilty for using plastic items and toxic chemicals, but celebrities and rich people are way, WAY worse about it than your average person. Of course, corporations are responsible for 71% of emissions since the Industrial Revolution, but celebrities set the precedent for other people. If fans see Swift letting out as many emissions as she does, they’ll start to think it’s okay too.
The moral of the story is that every billionaire or mega-popular celebrity (like Taylor Swift) doesn’t make an effort to reduce their own carbon footprint while letting themselves get rich in spite of others who are in need. Dolly Parton is famous for donating her money, and she’s made quite a name for herself. Although her intentions could be pure, she could also very well be doing it just for popularity. But, whether or not a celebrity’s intentions are to help people or get people to like them, money is still getting donated and people are still getting helped.