“Swifties not welcome:” Why a growing subreddit full of anti-Taylor Swift fans has become the new tabloid magazine

 People have criticized her excessive use of her private plane: A gif showing her plane pinging from one side of the world to the next went viral in 2023 (it’s the most upvoted post on the whole r/travisandtaylor subreddit). She fell out of some fans’ good graces by continually releasing different versions of The Tortured Poets Department album on the same days as other artists. She’s even been criticized for attending football games, which some anti-Swift fans claimed took attention away from the game itself (Swift was shown on camera for less than 30 seconds out of an hours-long football game). 

 The second most popular post is a video that supposedly came from a sound engineer responsible for Taylor’s vocals during a concert. In the 20 second long clip, we can hear Swift’s isolated vocals as she sings “Cruel Summer.” Her voice peaks and cracks as an unseen group of people begin to laugh at the performance. “My friend's cousin is a sound engineer and she said I could post this here as long as I don't mention the arena. It's the mic feed they can hear from their booth,” the poster u/sanandrios explained. Commenters mocked her singing, with one writing, “Pick a key Taylor, any key.”

 Others brutally criticize Swift’s dancing. One Redditor blasted her dance moves, saying that,“the claw, the ‘full diaper shuffle’ choreo, the head tilts, [and] messing up your own song” was not worth the high price of the concert tickets. 

 Does this type of catty banter feel familiar? Compare these to the tabloid magazines of the 1990s and 2000s: If you lived in the US, you probably spotted them at the checkout line every time you bought groceries. They pointed out “celebrity flaws” such as hairy armpits, cellulite, “huge hands,” or flabby tummies, just to name a few. While the subreddit is less focused on Taylor’s looks, it doesn’t shy away from criticizing her fashion choices, talents, and the people around her. 

 Photos via u/rewnsiid82

One Redditor shared a snapshot of what today’s actual tabloids look like: 
 

Image via u/DaggerBaby925

 This person noted that the magazine blames Swift for making Travis “out of shape,” saying, quite literally, that, “it’s all her fault.” The headline continues, explaining that Kelce has “finally cracked” from the stress and suggests that he is pushing her away. 

Meanwhile, on the r/travisandtaylor subreddit, people speculate for themselves about aspects of Taylor Swift’s appearance, with many accusing her of getting plastic surgeries. 
 

Image via u/missatomicbomb__

Other posters compare Swift to other popular artists and celebrate whenever she gets knocked down a notch. 

Image via u/Physical_Parsnip4027
 

Image via u/Anxiety2007

There are those who mock Swift’s dance moves, like one person who joked that her dancing was like becoming inebriated and trying to be “s*xy at the bar.” 

Image via u/strengthof50w*****

Image via u/ToyotaFest
 

Image via u/Admirable_Coffee5373
 

Image via u/Disastrous_Depth5250

Image via u/usrnmslrdtkn

It makes sense that a subreddit would become the newest spot to mock celebrities. After all, newspapers and magazines aren’t exactly thriving in our current media landscape. Digital media has been reigning supreme in recent years, and traditional physical media, like paper magazines, has fallen dramatically. The sub has swelled to 130K members, up from 42K just a few months ago. Still, we all know Swift will take the heat with grace. As she has sung many times before, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.” So it’s safe to say, she will just shake off this subreddit.