"Swift welcoming a canceled friend to her "underworld" (imagine Hot Topic lighting), where she likes her friends "cloaked in Gucci and scandal." Scandal isn't necessarily cancellation, though it's almost certain that Swift doesn't know the difference. For her, being canceled is when people hate her album; in reality, it's when someone says a slur on a podcast. When Swift says she likes her friends canceled, it's hard to take literally: In the years since Reputation, she's been one of the most scandal-averse public figures."
"Baldoni countersued, claiming that Lively wrestled the movie away from him - sharing, in one part, a story about Lively weaponizing her friendship with Swift against him, referring to Swift as one of her "dragons" (à la Game of Thrones). While I think it could be low-key flattering to be called a dragon - they were cute on the show! - Swift has spent the last several months distancing herself from Lively and the case in general."
CANCELLED! showcases an 'evil' Taylor Swift persona that welcomes a canceled friend into a goth-tinged underworld where friends are "cloaked in Gucci and scandal." The song conflates scandal and cancellation, suggesting Swift treats critical reception as cancellation while real-world cancellation often involves harmful slurs. Despite lyrical relish for scandal, Swift has been largely scandal-averse since Reputation. Swift lent a song to Justin Baldoni's adaptation of It Ends With Us, which became entangled in allegations and counterclaims between Blake Lively and Baldoni. Baldoni accused Lively of weaponizing her friendship with Swift; Swift has since distanced herself from the dispute.
Read at Vulture
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