Why Taylor Swift Isn't Having a Big Fourth of July Party in Rhode Island This Year
Taylor Swift's great Tayamerica Fourth of July 2020 party isn't happening, and the coronavirus pandemic isn't the only reason that the celeb-filled bash is off (though obviously it is a big one for everyone: large gatherings are generally discouraged because they can easily spread the virus). Swift, who used to throw elaborate Fourth of July parties at her Watch Hill, Rhode Island, beach house each year, spoke to The Guardian in its August 2019 profile on her about what made her stop the annual tradition.
Swift hasn't thrown a Fourth of July party since 2016—that was the party, by the way, where her then-boyfriend Tom Hiddleston wore his infamous "I <3 T.S." tank. The outlet wrote that according to Swift, her "disillusionment" with America led her to stop the extravaganzas.
In that interview, Swift also acknowledged her role in creating such a public fascination around her, her "squad," their parties, and life together by making their relationships so public on social media.
If she didn't post a happy birthday tribute to a friend on Instagram, for example, people and outlets would speculate that the friendship was strained or over. “Because we didn’t post about it, it didn’t happen—and I realized I had done that," Swift said. "I created an expectation that everything in my life that happened, people would see.”
Swift addressed her political silence back then too, saying she regrets it in hindsight and would have endorsed Clinton. “The worst part of the timing of what happened in 2016 was I felt completely voiceless," she said, alluding to her summer of scandals that included the end of her and Hiddleston's relationship and Kim Kardashian's Snapchat takedown of her. "I just felt like, oh God, who would want me? Honestly...I just felt completely, ugh, just useless. And maybe even like a hindrance.”
Swift later explained to Vogue in its September 2019 issue that she was afraid her endorsement would hurt Clinton.
“Unfortunately in the 2016 election you had a political opponent who was weaponizing the idea of the celebrity endorsement," she said, without dropping Trump's name explicitly. "He was going around saying, I’m a man of the people. I’m for you. I care about you. I just knew I wasn’t going to help."
Swift said she also thought about the parallels between her and Clinton's public images because of her damaged reputation that summer. "You know, the summer before that election, all people were saying was She’s calculated. She’s manipulative. She’s not what she seems. She’s a snake. She’s a liar. These are the same exact insults people were hurling at Hillary," Swift said. "Would I be an endorsement or would I be a liability? Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women. The two nasty women. Literally millions of people were telling me to disappear. So I disappeared. In many senses.”
Swift has since become more politically active. Her most liked tweet ever was her calling Trump out directly for his "stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism" in May.
Swift, by the way, has been quarantining with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn in one of her homes, although she hasn't disclosed where they are.
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