Taylor Swift made something of a splash on Saturday when she held a very exclusive, low key pool party at her Rhode Island mansion featuring some very high profile friends — some of whom the billionaire musician has seemingly distanced herself from (at least publicly) in the midst of their respective controversies, like Blake Lively and Brittany Mahomes. Swift’s guest list for the Aug. 24 shindig, which included some obvious choices, like Travis Kelce, has fans once again considering Swift’s curious and sometimes hypocritical approach to public versus private loyalty.
Blake Lively, a longtime member of Swift’s inner circle, is under fire for her film It Ends With Us, particularly for how it handles domestic violence. Critics haven’t been kind about her handling of the movie’s sensitive themes, and some less than stellar soundbites from Lively’s past have some fans questioning the authenticity of the Gossip Girl alum.
Yet, despite their close-knit friendship, Swift’s been oddly quiet about the whole thing. Instead, she’s been busy on social media singing praises for Zoë Kravitz’s film Blink Twice and Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album.
Swift even did a whole bit about supporting Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, for Deadpool vs. Wolverine, but failed to say anything about Lively’s film — or publicly support during all the drama during promotion for the film with Justin Baldoni. Fans have noticed, and they’re talking: “Taylor literally promoting everything but Blake’s movie is so funny to me,” one fan quipped.
This isn’t the first time Swift has gone quiet when a friend’s in hot water. Her iconic girl squad, once the envy of many for its glamorous clique, has been criticized for its lack of diversity and exclusivity. In 2016, when pal Karlie Kloss defended Kim Kardashian after the Kanye West incident, Swift stayed silent. Again in 2017, when Ed Sheeran faced criticism for his lyrics, she chose silence. And in 2018, amid Lena Dunham’s backlash over controversial comments defending a writer on Girls accused of sexual assault, Swift, who once called Dunham a “feminist role model,” remained quiet.
This pick-and-choose approach has got fans scratching their heads. Remember when Swift famously said there’s a “special place in hell” for women who don’t support other women? Yeah, some fans are calling this a double standard.
“I’ve been thinking about Taylor’s friendships for a while… When she felt slighted by Katy Perry, she had her whole g**d*** squad show up in a music video, and in her LWYMMD video she had their names written on her t-shirt. She clearly expects them to come to her defence any time she is ‘wronged’,” wrote one fan on Reddit. “Meanwhile she has been silent ever since Blake has found herself in hot water, and while she’s out here flailing around and bringing up Taylor’s name, clearly for kudos points, at every opportunity she can get, on Taylor’s end all you hear are crickets. Hypocritical, IMO.”
Then there’s Brittany Mahomes, who’s been catching flak for liking a Donald Trump post — a move that ruffled feathers, especially since Trump’s campaign is using AI-generated Taylor Swift images. Again, Swift’s silence is deafening. Sure, ghosting friends in their time of need isn’t the way to go, but Swift’s pick-and-choose approach to public support has fans side-eyeing her authenticity. As one fan put it, “It’s getting a bit difficult to keep supporting Taylor. How much can I keep separating art from the artist?”
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