‘New York Times’ blasted for “indefensible” op-ed speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality

The New York Times has earned some harsh criticism for publishing an op-ed speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality.

In the 5,000 word essay, published last week, Times Opinion editor Anna Marks essentially creates the “journalistic” equivalent of a conspiracy theorist’s bedroom wall, connecting ostensible LGBTQ+ references in Swift’s lyrics and supposed secret hints with rhetorical red string to create a dubious portrait of an allegedly closeted artist trying to telegraph her queerness while never actually coming out.

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“In isolation, a single dropped hairpin is perhaps meaningless or accidental,” Marks wrote, employing an archaic slang term for hints about queer people’s sexuality, “but considered together, they’re the unfurling of a ballerina bun after a long performance. Those dropped hairpins began to appear in Ms. Swift’s artistry long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. They suggest to queer people that she is one of us. They also suggest that her art may be far more complex than the eclipsing nature of her celebrity may allow, even now.”

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While Swift has not commented on the op-ed, over the weekend an anonymous source close to the pop star blasted the Times.  

“Because of her massive success, in this moment there is a Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics,” the source, described as “a person close to the situation,” told CNN. “This article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans.”

“There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is – all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece,’” the source said.

As CNN noted, it is rare for mainstream news organizations to publish stories about celebrities’ sexuality. But in 2022 the Times published another Marks op-ed in which she speculated about Harry Styles’s sexuality — and his performance of queerness — following accusations that the pop star was “queerbaiting” LGBTQ+ fans.

Swift, a longtime LGBTQ+ ally, has faced rumors about her sexuality for years. In a 2019 Vogue profile, she said she wants to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community but described it as “a community that I’m not a part of.” And she seemed to address speculation about her sexuality obliquely in the prologue for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) last fall.

“If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right?” she wrote. “I would learn later on that people could and people would.”

Over the weekend, other critics chimed in about the Times op-ed, with Variety’s senior music writer and chief music critic Chris Willman calling the piece “the least defensible op-ed I can remember ever seeing the NYT run,” in a post on X.

Out country singer Chely Wright, whose career is referenced extensively in Marks’s essay, agreed with Willman.

“I was mentioned in the piece, so I’ll weigh in. I think it was awful of @nytimes to publish,” she wrote in an X post on Sunday. “Triggering for me to read — not because the writer mentioned my nearly ending my life — but seeing a public person’s sexuality being discussed is upsetting.”