Almost every time someone’s found out that I love Taylor Swift, they have either jumped up and down with glee, so excited to meet another member of the Swiftie community, or they stick up their noses and grunt in a very judgemental manner. However, after getting fed up with the latter responses, I began to interrogate these haters about why they so disapproved of my life choices. Her music is overrated, her songs are “too much,” the lyrics don’t compare to those of Frank Ocean or Kendrick Lamar, and so, so much more that made me too mad to type. While I needed to accept that although everyone’s musical taste is different and I can’t force everyone to like Taylor Swift, there is no arguing the fact that she’s an undeniably good person. After coming to this conclusion, I realized that the only thing I could do was come up with a foolproof argument that makes it impossible to dislike Taylor as a person. So, to all the anti-Swifties out there, this is for you.
Most singers or artists that are remotely famous are known for something. Olivia Rodrigo’s known for writing break-up songs, Doja Cat is… well, Doja Cat, and much more. However, throughout Taylor’s entire career, she has been recognized first and foremost as a kind and generally amazing person. If you dig deep enough, it can all be traced back to 2011, when Swift donated $70,000 in books to her hometown library, according to Billboard News. Apparently, the approximately six thousand books were all geared towards children and young adults and marked the beginning of her hundreds of donations.
Let’s jump ahead about 5 albums and a few years to Taylor’s international Eras Tour. However, although Taylor’s concerts have made at least 1 billion dollars, she only made $300 million. Out of that income, she’s paid more than $50 million of her own money in bonuses to all of the concert staff, accompanied by handwritten notes thanking them for all of their hard work.
If this wasn’t enough to prove all the Swift haters wrong, there’s also the small fact that she donates food to almost every city that she has visited along her tour. Besides helping the homeless population in these places, Taylor’s contributions have brought an influx of press for struggling food banks, which in turn has helped boost donations.
It’s unfathomable how many lives Taylor has touched, even those that she did unknowingly. For example, this past summer, Taylor gave $100,000 raises to each of her 50 truck drivers. Little did she know the substantial effect that this would have on the friends and families of the staff members. Her generosity paid for a driver’s son’s cancer treatment, and will probably help to support them and their families for a long time.
Continuing along the very evident theme of donations to cancer research or fans battling cancer, there have been countless reports of Swift pitching in to help out fans with their chemo payments, such as Taylor donating $10,000 to a fan struggling with cancer bills. Furthermore, because of her family’s history with cancer, she has donated over $200,000 to a Pediatric Cancer research program.
Because I wasn’t able to include the countless different charitable acts and donations that Ms. Swift has made, I encourage you all to do your own research, because Taylor’s amazing kindness, selflessness, and generosity remain unparalleled by everyone else in the entertainment industry. It’s clear that despite what many people say about her music career, it’s undeniable that Taylor Swift is, in fact, an amazing human being.
I couldn’t agree more! Although we didn’t catch her most recent tour, we watched everything she said in support of all of her LGBTQ+ fans onstage at the piano and I was really moved. I think it’s obvious she abundantly cares for everyone. I hold the opinion that haters go through phases where they love her, then hate her, then eventually love her again, mainly due to the longevity of her career and how the music most relates to them at the time. Love the article, love the art!