Taylor Swift Remains Silent as Fans Doxx and Harass Music Critic Over Folklore Review

Laura Bradley

Entertainment Reporter

Mapes even-handed review deftly and artfully expressed Folklores strengths and weaknessesand given Pitchforks historical skepticism toward popular artists, the piece might as well have been a rave.

But certain lines didnt sit well with Swifts most rabid fans. And perhaps more importantly, the 8.0 numerical score that accompanied Mapes reviewa metric determined not by the reviewer, but from multiple staffers ratingsthreatened to drag down the albums aggregated Metacritic score.

That, apparently, was an intolerable insult.

Swifts representative did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Despite these fans insistence that their concern is the fairness and quality of the reviews Folklore receives, they really appear fixated on the albums Metacritic score. Specifically, many lamented the possibility that Folklore could drop below a 90. At the time of writing, the albums Metascore is an 89.

Music stans have begun using elaborate methods to boost new releases from their favorite artists in recent years. They coordinate streaming parties and create hours-long playlists and pool money to buy as many fans digital copies of new releases as possible. All of this aims to boost albums and songs chart positions by getting as many people listening for as many hours as possible, on as many platforms as possible.

But in targeting a journalist like this, some fans have taken things to a dangerous extreme. And perhaps more importantly, this is not the first time that Swifts most zealous fans have used doxxing and death threats to punish people they feel have wronged her.

Last fall, after Swift urged her followers to let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about their efforts to keep her from using and performing old hits, her fans doxxed both men.

On another occasion last summer, furious Swifties also sent death threats and racial slurs to comedians Desus and Mero for body-shaming Swift with a joke about the singer having a very long back.

As Mero told ishonests Matt Wilstein, The FBI called my house. Well actually, they called my local precinct... Somebody had sent me a message saying, I know you have four kids and I know where they go to school. And I screen-grabbed it and I was like, I wish you would, motherfucker! Come to my house, I got a rusty machete waiting for you.

Swift does not appear to have commented on these incidents, either.

Musicians have faced backlash in recent years for attacking critics they felt had done them wrong. Last year, Lana Del Rey and Lizzo both drew ire when they attacked critics over reviews they didnt like. But this case stands out both because the fans themselves are behind the attacks and, most confusingly, did so over a largely positive review.

Leah Puttkammer/Getty

tell me people dont actually take threats from swifties seriously- half of us are depressed and the other half are dumb do yall really think were gonna hurt you in any way, another account wrote.

In this context, Swifts continued silence essentially becomes tacit permission for her fans to continue harassing anyone they please. Its perhaps not the best look for a pop star who once had a hit all about overcoming bullyingand who last year wrote about fearing for her safety after her personal information was repeatedly shared online.

Ive gotten too many emails saying some version of, you are an ugly fat bitch who is clearly jealous of Taylor, plz die, Mapes wrote in a thread, which is not the first time Ive heard that from pop stans...It sucks to be scared of every person milling about outside or feel like you cant answer the phone. That said, I am safe and doing fine.

Its understandable that longtime Swift fans might be a little sensitive about how their favorite artist is perceived and ranked compared to other artists. For a long time, she and her music could often be dismissed as teenage fluff for screaming tweens. In some arenas, that stereotype prevails.

But pop has since risen to astronomical influence since Swifts earlier years, and garnered more serious consideration than in years past. And especially since 1989, netting her a second Album of the Year Grammy, critics have taken Swift seriously as an artist and lyricist. The fact that Pitchfork, which once made a habit of ignoring pop artists altogether, even bothered to review Folklore and then gave the album a solid 8.0expresses that fact better than perhaps anything. So in the words of Swift herself: Anyone throwing temper tantrums on her behalf needs to calm down.

Read more on: thedailybeast, remains