Who is “CANCELLED!” About in Taylor Swift’s New Album?

This hand-wringing went into overdrive in 2024, when simultaneously Kelce and Swift got more serious and Mahomes seemed to indicate that she was a supporter of now-President Donald Trump. The fact that Swift continued to associate with Mahomes was taken by many to confirm what they had suspected all along: that Swift was far from the perfectly principled person that they felt she should be.

That’s one way to look at it. Another way is that life and relationships are complicated, and just because Swift is hanging out with her fiance’s friend’s wife at what are essentially work events doesn’t mitigate all her past statements. Or maybe, it’s something else entirely. Who knows! The point is, we don’t know anything for sure because none of them have told us. You can imagine Swift growing tired of these constant purity tests being placed upon her, the fact that she can’t make a decision in the world without it being endlessly picked apart.

So, it seems she’s decided to embrace it. In the song, she makes the not-unfounded point that all of her friends who have faced “cancellation” are women who are scrutinized, just as she is, for every minutia of their public lives.

“It’s easy to love you when you’re popular, the optics click, everyone prospers,” she sings. “But one single drop, you’re off the roster. ‘Tone-deaf and hot, let’s fuckin’ off her.’”

She’s not wrong. In many ways, famous women are facing more toxicity than they have in years, with the horrifyingly swift downward spiral of Lively’s reputation, and the bullying and stalking she has faced, serving as a prime example. And no one’s life is more constantly observed, commented on, and analyzed more than Swift’s.

However, Swift in many ways created this situation herself, by encouraging intimate relationships with her fans since her debut. It’s a tricky balance for her to walk. In her 30s, the star seems torn between her desire to be the biggest and most successful artist of her generation, and her growing dislike of the scrutiny that is placed upon her. She’s a showgirl who, as she writes in another track “Wish List,” may just want to move to a suburban cul-de-sac and have a bunch of kids.