Taylor Swift is one of the most-decorated musicians of all time — but her pop star reputation didn’t come without a few controversies.
Swift dropped her self-titled debut album in 2006, kickstarting her country career. Over her next eight albums, she began to branch out of her original genre and cross over into pop territory. “If I don’t beat everything I’ve done, it’s seen as a colossal failure,” she told her team in the 2020 documentary Miss Americana, reflecting on the pressures that come with being a major star.
Swift has spoken openly through the years about navigating fame — and about working through her various feuds. “A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,” she noted in a 2019 Vogue interview, referring to her 10-year back and forth with Kanye West. “I don’t think there are that many people who can actually understand what it’s like to have millions of people hate you very loudly.”
The Grammy winner added, “When you say someone is canceled, it’s not a TV show. It’s a human being. You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, ‘Kill yourself.’”
While she’s frequently vocal about her personal ups and downs, fans have called out the “August” singer for often staying quiet when it came to politics, especially in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She’s also faced her fair share of legal drama through the years — even being accused of plagiarism.
Scroll down for a look back at Swift’s most controversial moments:
