7 Unforgettable Moments of Taylor Swift with Media

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Taylor Swift has been a widely covered music artist in the recent past. With her involvement with boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and her Eras Tour across the globe Swift continues to rule the hearts of her fans. However, with fame comes a fair share of being under the scanner for a big chunk of her public life. Here are some of the most insane press moments of the Grammy Award-winning musician.

1. The Kanye West VMA Interruption

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It all began in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards when Swift received the Moonman for Best Female Video for You Belong With Me. After being presented the award by her former beau and Valentine’s Day co-star Taylor Lautner, Swift expressed her joy at winning. However, West stormed onto the stage, grabbing the mic from Swift, and declared that Beyoncé deserved the award for her Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) video. Swift was left feeling bewildered and embarrassed by West’s unexpected interruption, and although she initially tried to move past the incident, it ultimately sparked a feud between the two that lasted for years. Swift later told Time, “Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me.”

2. When ‘Shake It Off’ was Blamed for Cultural Appropriation

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Featured on her 2014 pop album 1989, the empowering anthem Shake It Off has been widely praised as one of her most uplifting songs to date. Achieving the milestone of becoming her second song to top the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, it resonated widely with audiences. However, the accompanying music video didn’t garner the same positive reception. Swift’s attire earned her some controversy for cultural appropriation and Rapper Earl Sweatshirt was amongst others who called Swift out. However, the director of the video, Mark Romanek clarified, “If you look at it carefully, it’s a massively inclusive piece. It’s very, very innocently and positively intentioned. And — let’s remember — it’s a satirical piece. It’s playing with a whole range of music-video tropes and clichés and stereotypes,” per Vulture.

3. When Swift Shared Her Political Inclination

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In a significant departure from her previous stance of avoiding political commentary, Swift garnered attention in 2018 by speaking out about the Tennessee midterm elections on Instagram. She utilized her platform to voice her opposition to Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign as a Republican candidate. She wrote, “As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women … She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry.”

4. When Swift Sued a DJ for Groping Her

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In 2013, during a backstage meet-and-greet at Swift’s concert, former KYGO radio host David Mueller attended with his girlfriend. While posing for a photo together, Mueller groped Swift by placing his hand underneath her skirt. He was promptly terminated from his job two days after the incident. In an attempt to sue Swift for slander, Mueller’s lawsuit was dismissed. However, Swift initiated a countersuit for assault and battery, which went to court in 2017. According to Billboard, Swift said, “I remember being frantic, distressed, feeling violated in a way I had never experienced before. A meet-and-greet is supposed to be a situation where you’re thanking people for coming, you’re supposed to be welcoming people into your home, which is the arena for that day, and for someone to violate that hospitality in that way, I was completely stunned.”

5. The Scooter Braun Fiasco

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Swift signed with the Nashville-based music label, Big Machine Label Group, at the age of 15 and released her debut album, Taylor Swift, when she was 16. Over the years, she released five more albums – Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation – under the label, owned by Scott Borchetta. Swift later parted ways with Big Machine and signed with Universal Music Group. Throughout her time with Big Machine and afterward, Swift made efforts to obtain ownership of her masters, which were held by the label. Despite her attempts, she was unsuccessful, and her masters were ultimately sold when Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine in 2019.

6. Swift’s Woman of The Decade Speech

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In 2019, Swift created history by becoming the inaugural recipient of Billboard’s Woman of the Decade Award. Following her acceptance of the award from Jameela Jamil at the Women in Music Awards that year, Swift delivered a memorable speech lasting approximately 15 minutes. One particular segment of her speech, which gained traction on TikTok five years later, stood out. In this segment, Swift addressed the “Swift backlash” she encountered. “I would keep accommodating, over-correcting, to appease my critics. They’re saying I’m dating too much in my twenties? Okay, I’ll stop. I’ll just be single … for years. Oh, they’re saying my music is changing too much for me to stay in country music? Alright, okay, here’s an entire genre shift, and a pop album called ‘1989,’” she said.

7. The ‘Folklore’ Cardigan Stir

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Swift is widely acclaimed for including easter eggs in her songs and music videos. Her 2020 album, folklore, was particularly rich in this regard, with the lead single Cardigan brimming with hidden meanings. However, controversy arose when a designer, Rasool, pointed out similarities between Swift’s “folklore Album” jumper and her company’s logo, suggesting that Swift had copied the design per InStyle. Rasool claimed, “I’d heard of so many different Black women in particular who had been ripped off by large corporations by celebrities. And I just couldn’t believe that it was happening to me.”