Barbara Walters famously once said, “Taylor Swift is the music industry.” But why and how? Well, Taylor’s bestie, Lana Del Rey, gave an intriguing answer last year: “She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone.” That, I believe. Blondie may have the most impressive pen game out there and a list of prolific muses that includes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, but she didn’t become a billionaire — or the biggest pop star in the world — purely because of her remarkable songwriting talent. Taylor prides herself on being a savvy businesswoman, and throughout her career, she’s consistently prioritized climbing the charts and making as much money as possible.
With artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charli XCX rising to A-list status over the last few years, Taylor has to work harder to maintain her spot at the top. The pop icon said it herself in “Anti-Hero”: “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby / And I’m a monster on the hill.” It seems like she has anxieties about being a veteran pop star, especially as this new generation of Gen Z pop girls starts to really compete with her.
Time and time again, Taylor’s been accused of strategically blocking other female artists on the charts as the next generation takes over pop. She often happens to release new music or make a major announcement the same day as another pop girlie is having a special moment. Most recently, Miley fans expressed frustration over Taylor sharing her masters announcement the same day Miley released her new album, Something Beautiful. Reputation charted higher than Miley’s album as a result.
Listen, I’m a fan of Taylor, I’m a fan of Miley, and I’m a fan of all the Gen Z girls, so I’d like for all of them to have their time at No. 1 on the charts. Sigh: Here are all the times Taylor Swift has allegedly tried to hinder other female artists’ success.
All The Times Taylor Swift Allegedly Interfered With Other Female Musicians’ Success
Miley Cyrus
Okay, I personally think this one’s a stretch, but yes, there’s new discourse about Taylor interfering with Miley’s Something Beautiful release. The former Disney queen released her new album on May 30 — the same day Taylor made her big announcement about owning her masters (and not giving us Rep TV). “I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away,” Taylor wrote in a lengthy letter about buying back her masters. “To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it.” After her announcement, Reputation (and also Morgan Wallen’s album, I’m The Problem) both beat Miley’s Something Beautiful on the charts.
“No female artist can have their moment without taylor swift being a weirdo,” one person tweeted, alluding to the Taylor and Miley rumors. But most fans seem to think this theory is nonsense: “If y’all think that taylor bought her masters back (a deeply personal thing for her to do) to block MILEY FUCKING CYRUS y’all may need to lay off the coke,” another person commented on X. A TikToker also mocked the theory with a hilarious impression of Taylor scheming to block Miley.
Olivia Rodrigo
Remember when Olivia Rodrigo was a diehard Swiftie, gushing about Taylor in every interview and posting promo content for Fearless (Taylor’s Version)? Remember how that abruptly stopped in 2021, and she never uttered Taylor’s name again? Well, Taylor apparently thought Olivia’s shout-singing in the “deja vu” bridge was too similar to the “Cruel Summer” bridge. (The melodies and lyrics are totally different… the singing styles are just both chant-y.) Now, Taylor gets half the royalties from “deja vu.” It’s pretty wild, considering the fact that Olivia was always so open about idolizing Taylor. If anyone can trademark shout-singing, we’re really in trouble.
When Rolling Stone asked Olivia how she felt about the messy credits situation, she admitted that she was “a little caught off guard” when it went down. The former Disney star added, “At the time it was very confusing, and I was green and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It’s not something that I was super involved in. It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the best person to ask.” Would she take the same approach if another artist released a song that had similarities with one of her own? “I don’t think I would ever personally do that,” Olivia clarified. “But who’s to say where I’ll be in 20, 30 years. All that I can do is write my songs and focus on what I can control.” Our media-trained queen.
On her second album, GUTS, Olivia included a track titled “the grudge” that is almost certainly about the Taylor drama. In the bridge, she sings, “Your flowers filled with vitriol / You build me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more.” In an insanely ironic twist, one of Taylor’s Tortured Poets Department tracks, “imgonnagetyouback,” copies a clever lyrical concept from Olivia’s GUTS hit, “get him back,” but I don’t think Olivia’s getting half of those royalties.
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish is another Gen Z star who’s felt the effects of Taylor dominating the industry. Although Billie and Taylor have previously expressed admiration for each other, their relationship seems to be a little more tense these days. You may recall that Taylor just so happened to drop three new versions of TTPD right before Billie released her new album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Coincidence? IDK… There was a whole chart war situation — both artists dropped new remixes of songs and new album versions in an attempt to secure that coveted No. 1 Billboard slot. In the end, Taylor won with her army of seven billion stans, so Billie’s album debuted at No. 2.
If they had both released albums at the same time, this wouldn’t have been a huge deal. But Taylor’s album came out a month before Billie’s!! HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a phenomenal album, and it deserved No. 1 in my humble opinion.
If I was Billie, I’d also probably be shading the “Fortnight” singer here and there. “Doing a three-hour show… That’s literally psychotic,” Billie said during a recent Stationhead session. Someone’s in their Reputation era. “Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that. I don’t even want that as a fan. Even my favorite artists I’m not trying to hear them for three hours. That’s far too long.” Hmmm, I wonder which artist she could possibly be referencing there. Billie’s also previously called out “some of the biggest artists in the world” for being wasteful when it comes to vinyl packaging… another fairly obvious Taylor reference.
Charli XCX
I saw Charli XCX open for Taylor at the Reputation tour back in 2018, but I can’t totally tell where these two stand now. BRAT was initially projected to reach No. 1 in the U.K. during the week of June 14, which would have been a meaningful milestone for Charli, who’s had an up and down journey in music for 16 years now. Unfortunately, she did not get No. 1 that week because Ms. Swift decided to release six U.K.-only album variants and claimed the slot for herself.
How many versions of Tortured Poets can there possibly be? The limit does not exist, apparently. Charli, however, recently stood up for Taylor after her fans expressed their anger by chanting “Taylor Swift is dead” at her shows (very fucked up). She wrote on Instagram that she “will not tolerate” it anymore. “Can the people who do this please stop,” Charli urged. “Online or at my shows. It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community.” Maybe there’s no ~bad blood~ here after all?
Sabrina Carpenter And Chappell Roan
yup https://t.co/HitEzpJ4V3 pic.twitter.com/tOkbImaY6T
— niles (@NILES100) July 9, 2024
It seems like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan are Taylor’s latest targets. Just this week, Sabrina and Chappell were officially the only women in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Ya know what would’ve been cool? If Taylor posted that news on her Insta story and cheered them on. Instead, she immediately (and predictably) dropped an acoustic version of “Fortnight” in order to get back into that top 10. To semi-quote Regina George, “Stop trying to make ‘Fortnight’ happen. It’s not gonna happen!” Literally, what happened to that “ITS THE SUMMER OF SABRINA AND MAY IT CONTINUE FOREVER”?? comment on Sabrina’s Insta?
Like I said, Taylor is a genius. I’ve been a fan since I was six years old. But it’s okay if other girlies like Charli, Sabrina, and Chappell are on top sometimes! After all, we need more than one artist. I don’t think Taylor is gonna sing about the club, that me espresso, or getting naked in Manhattan any time soon.
