<
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/08/taylor-swift-nyt-opinion-sexuality>
"The
New York Times is under fire for publishing a piece speculating on
Taylor Swift’s sexuality.
In a 5,000-word opinion piece titled
Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do,
editor Anna Marks listed references to the LGBTQ+ community overt or perceived
in Swift’s music and theorized that the singer was sending coded messages that
she was secretly a member of the community.
The piece has drawn backlash from
Times readers as well as “associates” of
Swift, according to
CNN.
One such member of Swift’s team, speaking to the outlet on the condition of
anonymity, attributed the decision to publish the op-ed to sexism and ethical
lapses. “Because of her massive success, in this moment there is a
Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics,” the person said. “This article wouldn’t
have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose
sexuality has been questioned by fans.
“There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about
Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under
the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece’,” the person added.
“This was the least defensible op-ed I can remember ever seeing the
NYT run,
made all the worst by the fact that it was written by a staffer, who
specializes in these speculations,” Chris Willman, the chief music critic at
Variety, wrote on Twitter. (In 2022, Marks wrote a guest op-ed essay for the
Times speculating on Harry Styles’s sexuality, as well.)"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
