5 Times Taylor Swift Has Taken The High Road

Every few days it seems Taylor Swift pops back into the mix of trending topics for something she did, didn’t do or allegedly said… Or, she went to a fan’s birthday party, wedding shower, bat mitzvah or funeral. (She hasn’t really shown up to all of those.) As of late, she caught the stink-eye from the critical public, because she took issue with Nicki Minaj, and subsequently opened herself up to take a couple jabs from Katy Perry. Regardless, she takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Here are five great examples.

5. Tina Fey

One could put Amy Poehler in this mix as well, but it’s more of a Tina vs. Tay thing, isn’t it? Tina Fey is no fan of Taylor Swift, and Taylor Swift is not a fan of Tina Fey, regardless of Taylor being referred to as Regina George by Katy Perry. Digressing… At the 2013 Golden Globe Awards, Tina and Amy told Taylor to keep her hands off Michael J. Fox’s son, creating a quick camera cutaway to Taylor’s trying-to-not-be-embarrassed face. This, an obvious jab at Taylor’s very public dating life. Following the show, Taylor offered an interview to Vanity Fair, and suggested a special place in hell for women who throw other women under the bus in the public forum. Tina rolled her eyes, scoffed at the remark and worked it back into her humor, telling Amy at the 2014 Globes, “There’s a special place in hell for you.”

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4. John Mayer

John Mayer. This guy has such a reputation in the entertainment industry. And no, aside from being an exceptionally talented singer-songwriter, it’s not a good one. He’s a little obsessed with… aspects… of his personage. And being that tortured, poetic soul. So, John woos women with song and such, then it inevitably goes bad. John has an uncanny ability to toss backhanded compliments at Taylor since their odd romance, before Taylor had even turned 20. It’s nearly impossible to tell if he’s being serious, or he’s being sarcastic, but it seems awfully sarcastic. Taylor planted a red flag of exposition when she wrote the song entitled, “Dear John,” clearly about their relationship. And then John, 12 years the senior to Taylor, went on to date Katy Perry. The rising nemesis of Taylor. Mercy.

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3. Nicki Minaj

Oh, the VMAs, always destined to drum up a little controversy. This year, it was Nicki Minaj who felt slighted by the nominating committee, when “Anaconda” wasn’t selected as one of the Video of The Year nominations. She took to Twitter to voice her dissent, and suggested maybe she needed to be skinnier to get in the mix. Taylor Swift took exception, after all, she’s the skinniest of the nominees, and tweeted back. Then, somehow, it all rested squarely on Taylor’s shoulders, because Nicki was allegedly jabbing a stick at the race issue in music. Hmmm. Sounds like back peddling. If it was a comment about race, why not say, “Maybe I should have had more WHITE girls in the video?” Then we all get the point. Sorry, Nicki, that’s failed logic no matter how you spin it. But Taylor took it on the chin, and chalked it up to a misunderstanding.

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2. Katy Perry

Put these two in the octagon, and schedule it for three, five minute rounds. The case of Katy vs. Taylor is truly fascinating. Taylor long suggested she was a fan of Katy, and vice-versa, then Taylor mentioned that some of Katy’s comments at awards shows were rather off-putting. Was she offering compliments, or sarcastic, verbal jabs? Recently, Katy called Taylor out for being a hypocrite when it came to support of other women. We’re all well aware that “Bad Blood” is about Katy, and the song was born of the chemical reaction developing between the rivals. Sure, it’s probably all drummed up the by labels, but there is some edgy pride in both these gals. They don’t like being pushed in any direction. So, let’s make it happen. Octagon. Odds are they’d end up hugging it out sister-style at the end of Round 1.

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1. Kanye West

Was there any doubt? Any doubt at all? Sadly, this was the moment that offered everyone else in the entertainment industry a green light to take their shot at Taylor. Everyone saw that her reaction was rather benign — that her reaction was pretty non-reactionary — and they saw it as weakness. Kanye served as a double negative when he crashed the stage, and passive-aggressively told Taylor she didn’t deserve to win an award over Beyonce. It solidified Kanye as a man who believes his feelings equate to absolutes in the realm of truth, and that it was OK to step on Taylor Swift. Sure, in the long run, Taylor is laughing all the way to the bank, but considering the rest of this list…? It all happened after. It gave people permission. And if people wonder why Taylor writes with an edge, simply go back and watch the moment. Utter humiliation.