17 Times Taylor Swift Took No BS From Other People And Companies

    "2010 called, and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back."

    Kristen Harris
    by Kristen Harris

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. She called out Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, the Soros family, 23 Capital, and the Carlyle Group for purchasing her music without consulting her.

    "None of these investors have bothered to contact me or my team directly — to perform their due diligence on their investment. On their investment in me"
    Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

    At the 2019 Billboard Women in Music Awards, she directly addressed the situation in her acceptance speech for the Woman of the Decade award. She said, "I’m fairly certain [Scooter Braun] knew exactly how I would feel about it, though, and let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying ‘but he’s always been nice to me’ when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their right to own their music."

    2. She called out former radio DJ David Mueller for sexual assault in court.

    You can ask me a million questions about it, and I'm never going to say anything different
    RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images

    She sued him for only a dollar because her goal was to show other women that "they will decide what will be tolerated with their body." Many people praised her testimony for inspiring other women to speak up about their own experiences with assault.

    3. She called out Netflix for including a sexist joke about her dating history in Ginny & Georgia.

    Taylor Swift @taylorswift13

    Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess

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    @taylorswift13 / Netflix / Via Twitter: @taylorswift13

    Taylor released her documentary Miss Americana on Netflix in 2020.

    4. She called out Kim Kardashian for recording and leaking a phone call between her and Kanye West about using her name in his song "Famous."

    Taylor says that, instead of addressing that phone call, she wants to bring attention to what really matters
    @taylorswift / Via Instagram: @taylorswift

    When the full phone call leaked, Taylor used it to draw attention to COVID-19 relief organizations.

    5. She called out Apple Music for not compensating artists during its three-month free trail period.

    Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done
    Kevork Djansezian / NBC / NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

    She announced in an open letter on Tumblr that she would not be releasing her 2014 album 1989 onto the streaming platform.

    6. She called out Shamrock Holdings for purchasing her masters but cutting Scooter Braun in on the deal.

    Taylor Swift @taylorswift13

    Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up.

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    @taylorswift13 / Via Twitter: @taylorswift13

    In a lengthy post, she said that, in order to be allowed to negotiate to buy her own masters, her former label would've required her to sign an NDA that prevented her from ever saying anything negative about Scooter Braun again.

    7. She called out the Tennessee state government for using state funds to replace statues of racist historical figures after they'd been torn down.

    8. She called out former president Donald Trump for dismantling the USPS during the presidential election.

    Taylor Swift @taylorswift13

    Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    @taylorswift13 / Via Twitter: @taylorswift13

    She'd previously called him out for his hateful tweets last May, saying, "We will vote you out in November."

    9. She called out Big Machine Records for releasing an old live recording as an album without her permission.

    @taylorswift / Via Instagram: @taylorswift

    On her Instagram story, Taylor explained that her previous label had not made her aware that the recording was being made public.

    10. She called out Kanye West for running onstage when she won Best Video by a Female Artist at the 2009 VMAs.

    Taylor sings that she doesn't have to worry about Kanye at SNL
    NBC / Via youtube.com

    She jokingly sang about the incident as part of her opening monologue on Saturday Night Live.

    11. She called out Tennessee Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn for her anti-LGBTQ+ voting record as well as calling out herself for being afraid to voice her political opinions publically.

    12. She called out the music industry for its double standards against women in "The Man."

    UMG / Via giphy.com

    On the Lover track, she sings, "They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve" and, "If I was out flashing my dollars, I'd be a bitch, not a baller."

    13. She called out Tina Fey for jokingly telling her to "stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son" at the 2013 Golden Globes.

    “I think that’s taking something that potentially should be celebrated — a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way — that’s taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist"
    Francois Durand / Getty Images

    Two months later, she told Vanity Fair, "You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people,” Swift began her reply. “Because she said to me she had heard a quote that she loved, that said, ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women'."

    14. She called out the US Census for its erasure of transgender and nonbinary people.

    We need to make sure we elect people who care about all communities
    Photo by Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for AEG

    During a Stonewall Day livestream in 2020, she described how upset she was to see that her Census form only offered "male" and "female" as gender options. She called it "a really brutal way of dismissing" transgender and nonbinary people.

    15. She called out Spotify for the way it compensated artists.

    It’s my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art
    Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

    In a 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed, she brought attention to how the streaming model could hurt artists' revenue. At the time, artists earned fractions of a cent for every stream on the platform.

    16. She called out Kim Kardashian for starting an "online hate campaign" against her.

    In my experience, I’ve come to see that bullies want to be feared and taken seriously
    Jun Sato/TAS18 / Getty Images

    In an article for Elle, she wrote, "A few years ago, someone started an online hate campaign by calling me a snake on the internet. The fact that so many people jumped on board with it led me to feeling lower than I’ve ever felt in my life."

    17. And finally, she called out the people who weren't respecting COVID-19 safety measures in her hometown of Nashville.

    God, you hope people would respect it and would understand that going out for a night isn't worth the ripple effect that it causes
    Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

    In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said that her song "Epiphany" was partially inspired by the healthcare workers who have been putting their own lives on the line to save others during the COVID-19 pandemic.