TwitterFacebookPinterestGoogle+

Taylor Swift Is in Hot Water With the ACLU After Allegedly Attempting to Silence a Critic


Taylor Swift has a history of pushing back against her critics—see: the lyrics to “Shake It Off”—but her latest dispute has the singer in hot water with the ACLU.

On Monday the ACLU sent Swift a strongly worded letter telling her to back off a critic she reportedly tried to silence. According to the ACLU, the website PopFront published a story in September entitled, “Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation.” In the post, editor Meghan Herning, in a mix of “political speech and critical commentary,” argues that some white supremacists have embraced Swift’s work. Because of this, Herning asks the singer to denounce white supremacy. Then, in October, Herning received a cease-and-desist letter from Swift and her lawyer threatening a defamation lawsuit and demanding a retraction for the story.

“Among other things, the story propagates such hideous falsehoods as: 1) ‘Taylor’s lyrics play to [a] subtle, quiet white support of a racial hierarchy;’ 2) that there are similarities between Ms. Swift and Adolf Hitler; 3) that the ‘lyrics [of ‘Look What You Made Me Do’] are the most
explicit in speaking to white anger and affirming white supremacy;’ and 4) that Ms. Swift’s purported silence regarding white supremacy means she supports Donald Trump and identifies with the white supremacist/al-right movement,” the letter from Swift’s lawyer read.

After receiving it, Herning contacted the ACLU, who sent Swift a letter stating that the editor and PopFront would not “in any way accede to your attempt to suppress their constitutionally protected speech.” As for the aforementioned “hideous falsehoods,” the ACLU responded, “Not even in your wildest dreams can they constitute defamation.” The references to Swift’s work continued later in the letter with, “Criticism is never pleasant, but a celebrity has to shake it off, even if the critique may damage her reputation.”

Related: How Taylor Swift is Counting on Fashion to Change Her ‘Reputation’



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.