Taylor Swift adores her friendship with Beyoncé. But having admirers and critics set against her? Not at all.
In March, the 33-year-old “Anti-Hero” pop star embarked on the North American leg of her massive Eras Tour. Months later, Beyoncé, 42, kicked off her Renaissance world tour.
While both record-breaking tours have been celebrated for leading this summer’s pop culture revival, there has still been a significant amount of comparisons made between the two in the media and by fans.
The 33-year-old “Anti-Hero” singer spoke out about her years-long connection with Beyonce in her TIME Person of the Year cover story published on Wednesday (Dec. 6), gushing over Beyoncé, the “Cruel Summer” singer called her “the most precious gem of a person – warm and open and funny”.
“She’s the most precious gem of a person — warm and open and funny,” Swift said of the Destiny’s Child star. “And she’s such a great disrupter of music-industry norms. She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices.”
We’re now on WhatsApp. Click here to join Our Channel.
The “Karma” singer continued by discussing a recurring topic that surfaced in this year’s pop culture conversation: the analogy between her worldwide Eras Tour and the 42-year-old Ivy Park founder’s Renaissance World Tour and Tour. Fan arguments around which tour is the greatest or most profitable have persisted despite the fact that both journeys have received high praise from critics and have made substantial profits.
“There were so many stadium tours this summer, but the only ones that were compared were me and Beyoncé,” Swift said in a new interview with Time magazine for her Person of the Year 2023 cover story.
“Clearly it’s very lucrative for the media and stan culture to pit two women against each other, even when those two artists in question refuse to participate in that discussion,” she added.
Taylor attended Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour film premiere in London last week (30 November). Her reciprocal support came after the “Cozy” singer made a surprise visit at Swift’s Eras Tour film premiere in October.
Also in attendance was Blake Lively, who coincidentally foreshadowed Swift’s point about the comparisons by joking on Instagram;
“When I grew up, women were always pit against one another… @beyonce and @taylorswift neither of you have to be threatened by my pop stardom. There’s space for us all.”
On Wednesday (6 December), Time magazine announced that Swift had been named 2023 Person of the Year. She was chosen among a strong list of contenders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, King Charles III, the live-action Barbie movie, and Vladimir Putin.
“While her popularity has grown across the decades, this is the year that Swift, 33, achieved a kind of nuclear fusion: shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force,” the magazine said about its selection.
Of the honour, Swift told the publication: “This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.
“Ultimately, we can convolute it all we want, or try to overcomplicate it, but there’s only one question… Are you not entertained?”
Swift’s recognition comes on the heels of a whirlwind year in her professional life. Her career-spanning Eras Tour dominated 2023 ticket sales. It’s estimated to have grossed over $1.4bn, while her concert film surpassed $250m at the global box office since its opening weekend in October.
Regarding her private life, her public romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has garnered media attention.
Swift disclosed the exact beginning of her relationship with Kelce in another section of her Time interview.
