Taylor Swift won TIME magazine's Person of the Year award this week, and while many applauded the singer, some fans appeared to be angered and mentioned others they believe should have been considered for the award, such as Palestinian journalists.
"while i do love taylor and i am happy for her, i do think there were better options. specifically, the brave palestinian journalists that have continued to risk their lives in order to show us the truth of what's happening in gaza. but that's just my two cents," @butchgguk wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
On October 7, Hamas militants led a surprise attack on Israel and fighting has continued between the two since. As of Friday, there have been over 18,000 casualties across both sides, the Associated Press reported. Shortly after the war broke out, the official Israel X account posted a message to Swift asking her to use her platform to support them in the war.
X user Sally Rugg said: "I'm a massive Taylor Swift fan, and you can make the argument that pop stars shouldn't need to speak out about war/conflict/genocide (I disagree but you can argue this). But Taylor has defined herself as someone who now speaks out on issues, even if it costs her."
"Taylor must feel something about the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Her silence is an active choice and it betrays the image of herself that she created," Rugg wrote in another tweet. The series of posts from Rugg received more than 60,000 views and over 100 likes.
On Wednesday, Time announced that Swift beat out other finalists including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Barbie and others. Newsweek reached out to Swift's representatives and Time via email for comment.
"While her popularity has grown across the decades, this is the year that Swift, 33, achieved a kind of nuclear fusion: shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force. She did it by embracing what she does better than anyone, entertaining and writing songs that connect with people," Time said. "Now she becomes the first Person of the Year to be recognized for her success in the arts, in a year when we were reawakened to questions about who makes and who owns our cultural expressions."
While many of Swift's fans were happy about the award, such as Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who said, "As if there was any other choice," some other fans questioned the decision and brought up other possibilities.
On Instagram, some users had similar responses to a post from Time, such as one user who said, "I have loved and even idolized taylor for over 17 years but don't you think maybe the "person of the year" the journalists risking their lives in Gaza?" The comment from Instagram user Daliameddawi received more than 8,000 likes.
In another Instagram post, user amelia_amadeus wrote, "I'm sorry, I am a giant swiftie, but I have NEVER seen ordinary people make an impact like the young journalists of Gaza and we all know it." The comment received more than 5,000 likes.
Some X users mentioned Swift's lack of response to many world issues. She has not made any public comments regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
User @StarFango wrote, "I have loved this woman for 15 years and I am very proud of the year she's having but being time's person of the year when you can't speak about the world's biggest atrocity of the year is embarrassing."
Similarly, X user @sparrowmedia said, "I'm not going to lie, I'm a die-hard @TaylorSwift13 fan, but I also think we should take a moment to honor the amazing women in Gaza, like Plestia Alaqad, who this year have risked life and limb to report the horrors of war and ethnic cleansing."
User @itsafronomics wrote, "lol I like her music but person of the year in one of the most unprecedented years of our lives is a bit of a stretch."
Some other X user brought up actors and writers in Hollywood following their strike, like @117wayneBob, who wrote, "I'm a swiftie but it absolutely should've been the Hollywood strikers...."
On the other hand, many others supported Swift and praised the award, like Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas.
"Continuing the tradition of making regular visits to Kansas City a requirement of being the Time Person of the Year," Lucas wrote. "Congratulations to Ms. Swift and all her fans who made it happen."
In 2020, Swift endorsed President Joe Biden and made remarks criticizing former President Donald Trump. While she has not spoken about her support in the 2024 election, she recently encouraged her followers to register to vote. Some conservatives, such as Laura Loomer, have speculated that she is involved with the Democratic Party, saying in a recent post to X that Swift's "entire world tour has become a Democrat Party Voter Registration drive."
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
