Singer Taylor Swift loves to be close to her fans. She loves to chat with them. With her new album, Reputation, she is talking about a problem lots of fans have.
Taylor started her career very young. She was just 16 when she made her first album. She started as a country and western singer but now her music is more pop. She has millions of fans and has 10 Grammy awards, the U.S. music "Oscars".
Like many of her fans, Taylor is very active on social media. That can be positive: Taylor exchanges a lot with her fans and often sends personal messages to fans who have problems. But, like many fans, Taylor receives lots of negative messages too.
In 2014, she made her fifth album, 1989. Then, she decided to have a break from music. In August 2017, Taylor suddenly deleted all her social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. Her official website disappeared too. Then, five days later, Taylor opened the accounts again and announced a new single, and a new album for November: Reputation.
Rumours
The video for the single, "Look What You Made Me Do", starts with a scene in a cemetery. We see a tomb that says, "Here lies Taylor Swift's reputation." Taylor plays lots of different roles in the video – a zombie, a bankrobber and a millionaire sitting in a bath filled with diamonds.
Taylor explains that a person's reputation is very fragile. It's easy to start a rumour but difficult to stop it. She says, "If everything you write about me was true, this is how ridiculous it would look."
The video ends with 15 different Taylor clones, in styles from different parts of her career. Most of the Taylor characters are making nasty comments to the two youngest, most innocent ones.
It's a scene many fans can recognise — the sort of insults and bullying that are common online and in real life. Maybe if you imagine insulting yourself it's easier to understand why the insults hurt?
bullying (n) aggressive and violent comments or actions
How do we recognise a good reputation or a bad reputation? Put these words in the right column.