Celebs Who Came Out Swinging Against Taylor Swift

Not that anyone needed the update, but Taylor Swift has been absolutely dominating popular culture. This has been largely due to her immensely successful Eras Tour, which took Swift and her company of employees and followers all around the United States in 2023 and continued well into 2024. She also dominated headlines, thanks to her ongoing relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.

Her relationship with Kelce quickly became fodder for tabloids and legitimate news sources as people analyzed every move either party made. Leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, right-wing pundits and celebrities spoke out about various conspiracy theories relating to Swift. While these were all unfounded, this didn't stop celebrities and others from coming out swinging against the popular singer.

Swift has long been the target of celebrities, many of whom once called her their friend. Whether she earned their vitriol or didn't, the number of celebrities who've gone against Swift in public is long. Each of these celebrities didn't hold back in lambasting Swift in one way or another, and while some eventually changed their tune, their public comments are nonetheless a common nuisance for the "Shake It Off" singer.

Some things changed for Taylor Swift after she encouraged her fans to vote for a Democratic candidate during the 2018 midterm election. In August 2019, Swift told The Guardian she thought then-President Donald Trump saw the United States as an autocracy. Besides no longer being seen as apolitical, some people took umbrage with her touting her left-leaning stance, including singer Kid Rock.

Kid Rock's beef with Swift began in 2019 when he tweeted something that upset Swift's many followers. He merged politics and sex into the conversation by writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Taylor Swift wants to be a Democrat because she wants to be in movies ... period. And it looks like she will suck the door knob off Hollyweird to get there. Oldest move in the book. Good luck, girl."

His words brought immediate condemnation from celebrities and users online, many of whom decried his sexist, baseless tweet. "Spread love. Not hate. End of subject," singer Sheryl Crow simply responded. Rock never backed down, and the crude message remained up on X, which is more than many of Swift's detractors have done. Regardless, injecting overt sexual connotations about a singer he had no direct interactions with made him look as bad as he came off in his tweet.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian may not be together anymore, but they presented a united front against Taylor Swift when they were married. The animosity between these parties began at the 2009 MTV VMAs when Swift accepted the award for best video by a female artist for "You Belong with Me." Ye grabbed the microphone, interrupting Swift, and proclaimed (via Entertainment Weekly), "Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time."

Swift took the professional insult in stride, but it left an impression. Ye showed contrition and apologized to Swift shortly after, and she accepted. Still, their clashing didn't end there, and in 2016, Ye dropped his track, "Famous," referencing Swift — singing "I made that b***h famous" — who publicly came out against the song. This was when Kardashian became involved because she released a call she recorded between Ye and Swift, alleging that the singer knew and approved of the contentious lyric.

Swift denied the evidence, saying it didn't show the whole story, and the ongoing back-and-forth continued for years between the three. Eventually, Kardashian dropped out of the feud, claiming in a 2019 episode of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" that it was all over. "Over it," she stated. "I feel like we've all moved on."

Troian Bellisario sat for an interview with Cosmopolitan in 2016, and the "Pretty Little Liars" star discussed everything from politics to other celebrities. When the conversation steered toward the ongoing drama between Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift, Bellisario was asked which side of the conflict she fell on. After explaining she wasn't interested in the Kardashian side of things, she settled on Team Swift.

Her response was somewhat reluctant, and she explained that she had issues with the pop star. "I'm so appalled by what I consider to be her false feminism," the actor posited. "It seems like she's this person who's like, 'Sisterhood!' and then she does nothing but tear down the women that were once her friends." Bellisario further clarified that she wasn't happy with the "two-party system," referring to Kardashian and Swift, asking if she could "choose the Green Party in this."

Bellisario's comments drew criticism from Swift's followers and support from the other side of the fence. She later clarified her comment on X, explaining that she didn't have an opinion and wanted to be left out of it, writing, "I basically said I would like to have no opinion on the topic. I've never even met her."

Michael J. Fox isn't often associated with Taylor Swift, but he accidentally entered the fray in 2013. During the 2013 Golden Globe Awards, co-host Tina Fey joked that Swift should "stay away from Michael J. Fox's son," Sam Michael Fox, who was born the same year as the singer in 1989.

Soon after, Vulture caught up with Fox and asked whether he would be okay with his son dating Swift. "No. No ... just back off," he responded. "I don't keep up with it all. But Taylor Swift writes songs about everybody she goes out with, right? What a way to build a career." He elaborated that he probably wouldn't recognize her if she came over for dinner, but would hypothetically put it all together after she dropped a single calling out his son after their inevitable breakup.

Fox's comments drew some condemnation, but soon after Fox's remarks made the rounds online, Swift posted a since-deleted tweet on X (via CBS News). "Hey everybody, Michael J. Fox got in touch with me today, and we are good," the "Blank Space" singer wrote. "Thank you for having my back." Evidently, Fox wanted to square things away, so he reached out directly and made things right with Swift.

Wendy Williams has never been shy about speaking her opinion, which is part of what made her talk show so compelling. Williams's beef with Taylor Swift began in 2015, when she fired shots at the pop star during her show's Hot Topics segment, dubbing Swift "the Queen of the Mean." The host even went so far as to say Swift's high number of Instagram followers masks who she truly is underneath.

"People like Taylor, and I think that the reason why also is a hidden secret of mean," Williams doubled down on "The Wendy Williams Show" (via E! News). "I think that she is probably meaner than Beyoncé and Kim [Kardashian] put together. In my mind, Taylor Swift is the queen of the mean. She's sneaky and smart about doing it, which makes her smarter than the other two."

Williams further took issue with Swift's penchant for posting images of her baking and cooking, saying, "She's trying to trick us into thinking she's a good woman." Four years later, the former radio host came out swinging at Swift once more on her show (via Yahoo), calling Swift out after she took home six awards at the 2019 American Music Awards. Williams stuck to her point, and while she admitted Swift was a gifted artist, she didn't believe the singer deserved her many accolades.

Former President Donald Trump is known for attacking those he doesn't like, and his list of critics is long. Unfortunately, that list includes Taylor Swift, and their issues with one another go back to 2019, when Swift started discussing her impression of Trump and his administration.

Trump didn't give a response right away, but that stance changed in 2023 as Swift's Eras Tour run happened to coincide with news of her relationship with Travis Kelce becoming public knowledge. Swift previously revealed her status as a Democrat, and people on the right theorized that she would use Super Bowl LVIII as a platform to come out in support of President Joe Biden. The "You Need to Calm Down" singer did endorse Biden in 2020 but didn't do so at the 2024 match.

All Swift did was attend the game, but that didn't stop Trump from speaking out against Swift. Trump attempted to ingratiate himself with Swift in a Truth Social post that Sunday, writing, "I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists. Joe Biden didn't do anything for Taylor and never will." Although a lawyer who was involved with the MMA told Variety he did nothing more than sign the bill, Trump proved he's not unwilling to engage when Swift dominates the headlines.

Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift dated, and if you know anything about Swift, you know she often draws inspiration from her relationships for her work. Instead of writing a diss track about Harris, she did help him write his hit 2016 track featuring Rihanna, "This Is What You Came For." Swift didn't take direct credit for her work, instead being credited with a Swedish pseudonym: Nils Sjoberg.

When Swift's publicist confirmed her involvement in the song after their June 2016 breakup, Harris came out against her, vociferously posting on X. He explained in a series of since-deleted tweets that he wrote the music, produced, and arranged the track, and Swift wanted to keep her involvement secret. "Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though," he wrote in part (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Harris continued posting negative comments about Swift, saying she should be happy in her new relationship at the time with actor Tom Hiddleston. "I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy [Perry] ETC, but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it," he stated. Harris later admitted to British GQ that he had overreacted due to the "media circus" surrounding the situation and his efforts to protect his talent and artistry.

Jack Posobiec is technically a celebrity, but if you've never heard of him, odds are you aren't tuned into right-wing media sources. The conservative commentator has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and aligned himself with his "Make America Great Again" campaign. When Posobiec sensed trouble surrounding Taylor Swift's growing popularity and pro-Democratic stance, he became one of the leading supporters of the conspiracy theory related to Swift and Super Bowl LVIII.

At the Restoring National Confidence Summit (via HuffPost) in February 2024, Posobiec ranted about how Swift is the perfect person to bring "low-propensity white liberal women" to vote for left-wing issues, including abortion access. Posobiec offered an alternative, saying, "We don't have Taylor Swift on our side, but you know who we have? We have Kid Rock. We have Ted Nugent. We have influencers. We have all these people — Jon Voight."

Posobiec suggested that those three celebrities — ranging from over 50 to over 80 years old — were a good trio to combat the influence of the most popular singer in the world, who boasts 539 million followers across her social media platforms. Posobiec's verbal assault on Swift wasn't unusual, as he's known for endorsing strange conspiracy theories. Regardless, he made an enemy supported by nearly 540 million people.

Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift were once friends who complimented one another's music, but that all changed thanks to Joe Jonas. Swift and Jonas dated for a few months in 2008 before he dumped her through an infamous 27-second phone call, resulting in a slew of tracks targeting Jonas. Two years later, Lovato and Jonas romantically linked up before the relationship ended after just a couple of months.

The drama between Lovato and Swift originally stemmed from their mutual ex-boyfriend, but that's just where it began. After what appeared to be a friendship triangle between Lovato and Swift over Selena Gomez, Lovato expressed her distaste for the "Cruel Summer" singer loudly on X in 2016. Before it was revealed that Swift had paid for singer Kesha's legal bills for her sexual assault case against producer Dr. Luke, Lovato seemingly subtweeted Swift, writing, "I'm also ready for self-proclaimed feminists to start speaking out or taking action for women's rights."

Calling out Swift's apparent lack of feminist support is a common theme in Lovato's criticism of the pop star. She told Glamour in 2016, "Don't brand yourself a feminist if you don't do the work," referring to Swift. She further disassociated herself from her former friend by condemning Swift's song, "Bad Blood," about her feud with Katy Perry. "I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that's not women's empowerment," Lovato stated.

Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber's beef with one another stems from many things, but more than most, it's her disapproval of his former relationship with her bestie, Selena Gomez. That relationship ended years ago, but the feud between the Canadian and country-pop superstars never did, and they have remained antagonistic toward one another.

This has largely been due to Bieber's managerial relationship with Scooter Braun, who became Swiftie enemy No. 1 when her masters were unknowingly sold to Braun in 2019. But the bad blood also goes back to 2016 when Bieber uploaded a screenshot of him video chatting with Braun and Kanye West (another enemy of the Swifties). "Taylor Swift what up," he captioned the Instagram post. To his credit, Bieber later attempted to apologize, but the singers never appeared to mend fences.

Eventually, Bieber married Hailey (née Baldwin), bringing her into the ongoing feud with Swift on a number of occasions. In 2023, a user on TikTok shared an old video of Hailey making a gagging motion upon hearing a reference to Taylor Swift while co-hosting "Drop the Mic" with Method Man. Well, Gomez herself came out in defense of her BFF, with Gomez commenting under the video, "So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game."

Singer-songwriter Ed Droste and Taylor Swift used to run in the same circles, but the two aren't friends at all. Their feud goes back to a since-deleted tweet written by Droste in 2015 that is about as straightforward as he could have been. When he finally met Swift, Droste decided the best course of action was to take to X (via Uproxx) and tear her down.

"Met a celebrity I always speculated was terribly calculated and mean," he wrote. "And they exceeded all my expectations of rudeness and arrogance. HATE. I'm too petrified of their insane power. No need to speculate; just HAD to voice my disgust." Though this was uploaded in 2015, his issues with Swift go back all the way to 2012 when she was nominated for three Grammy Awards. "Super relieved Taylor Swift is up for another award. Was worried she didn't have enough! #phew," he tweeted (via Pitchfork) in reaction to the nominations.

Droste continued posting negative Tweets about Swift on his X feed through the summer of 2015, and it didn't take long for Swift's squad to fire back. Gigi Hadid and Martha Hunt called out Droste in replies, though Swift remained quiet about his distaste for her. This ultimately led to the Grizzly Bear frontman deleting his account in 2015.

Ted Nugent isn't the kind of singer you would typically associate with Taylor Swift, but he has stepped into her world regardless. They each have their successful careers, and while they're certainly not on the same side politically, you would think they wouldn't speak out against one another in the media. Nugent didn't get that memo because, while speaking on "The Joe Pags Show" podcast in 2023, he shared his opinion about the "Mine" singer.

"I'm afraid the success of Taylor Swift — and God bless her work ethic, God bless her musical dreams — but that's cartoon music," he stated. "I mean, it doesn't have any piss and vinegar. There's no fire, there's no sensuality in that. It's all poppy nonsense as far as I'm concerned. And it's the most popular stuff in the world, which is an indictment to the music industry and music fans."

Not only did Nugent come out against Swift, but he insulted her music and took it a step further by insulting her fans. While Swift's music and Nugent's aren't similar, he elevated himself and stuck his generational foot in his mouth regarding what's popular today, further separating himself from a generation of music lovers. He pushed it further when he finished by saying, "Thank God I'm still around."

Numerous celebrities have taken to social media to voice their issues with Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry publicly joined the fray in 2014. This came about after Swift's 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, in which she alluded to her song, "Bad Blood," being about another female pop star.

"For years, I was never sure if [this singer and I] were friends or not," Swift recounted. "She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'" The Pennsylvania native went on to explain that this person had hired many of her tour's backup dancers, which nearly threw off the whole production.

After the article's release, Perry posted on X, "Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing," clearly referencing Swift and essentially calling her fake and calculating. While their feud continued for years, the two eventually put things to the side, hugging it out in Swift's 2019 "You Need to Calm Down" music video. Perry also attended one of the Sydney, Australia performances of the Eras Tour in February 2024.

Diplo and Taylor Swift got into it in 2014 when Diplo posted on X, "Someone should make a Kickstarter to get Taylor Swift a booty." This comment drew immediate reactions from Swift's closest friends, including Lorde, who wrote (via Entertainment Tonight), "@diplo, should we do something about your tiny penis while we're at it hm." This continued with some back-and-forth before things died down.

Diplo was dating Katy Perry then, meaning maybe he threw his hat into the ring to support his girlfriend. The two dated for a couple of months in 2014, so the timing seems to line up, but stepping into the fray cost the Grammy Award-winning DJ greatly. Diplo upset a lot of people by commenting as he did about Swift, and it was about more than her appearance, with him going on to criticize her music and telling her fans to calm down.

This only made things worse for Diplo, who later told The Standard that criticizing Swift and her fans was "the worst decision of [his] career." "I thought, do I want to be known as the a***ole?" he explained. The DJ furthered that he used social media as a joke but quickly discovered how real it was.