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Is Taylor Swift ‘racist’? Sick trolls target singer over old The Weeknd encounter and false pedophilia claims

In a matter of 24 hours, Twitter went from 'Respect Taylor Swift' to 'Taylor Swift is Over Party', here's what unfolded

When Taylor Swift sang 'The world moves on, another day another drama,' she really wasn't kidding. The reigning queen of pop culture has had her brushes with social media, but looks like the latest #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trend on Twitter might grab more eyeballs than those from the past.

It's nothing new for 'Miss Americana' to wake up to a plethora of angry social media users trying to cancel her for something or the other, but this time, the reason behind the trend is more serious than ever: alleged racism and pedophilia, which Twitter is currently divided and fighting over.

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The controversy began when the Netflix series 'Ginny & Georgia' decided to make snide remarks about the singer's dating history, and Swift slammed them for their "sexist jokes". The show had one of its characters complain how another "goes through men faster than Taylor Swift" and the 'Folklore' songstress wasn't having any of it, especially during Women's History Month celebrations. Soon, her beloved friend and rapper Todrick Hall came to the singer's defense, calling out the Netflix show, albeit adding in since-deleted tweets how there are several others who have just as vast a dating history but are never targeted or mocked for the same. 

That was the first strike that caused a divide between fans as they didn't think Todrick's defense was entirely appropriate. But in a whirlwind of events, Twitter suddenly went from 'Respect Taylor Swift' to 'Taylor Swift is Over Party' when a user called @RNBOWINTERLUDE tweeted, "WHY #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty IS TRENDING: A VERY LONG, VERY DISAPPOINTING THREAD." In that, the user pulled up screenshots, alleging Swift's dating history with the likes of Taylor Lautner and Connor Kennedy, who were younger than the musician when they were rumored to be dating her. 

@RNBOWINTERLUDE continued tweeting, "evidence of taylor swift's predatory history is coming to light. she has a history of being a pedophile, having relationships with two minors, and a few more relationships which display predatory behavior on her part. while some of these are legal they still reek of grooming...." And soon they pulled up The Weeknd's old interviews where the singer had allegedly claimed Swift had tried to pet his former Jean-Michel Basquiat-inspired hair. Speaking to Rolling Stone, The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye recalled a 2015 encounter where Swift had approached him to talk about her fondness for his work, "But the whole time she was talking....She was kind of, like, petting my hair? I think she was just drawn to it — she must have been a little gone off a few drinks. And of course I'm not going to be like, 'Hey, can you stop?' I mean, it felt good! But when she started petting my hair, that's when I was like, 'I definitely need a drink.'"

Screenshots of Swift sporting cornrows and Geisha make up apart from her feature in the T-Pain song 'Thug Life', and an alleged photo of her smiling next to a man wearing a short with the Nazi swastika also made rounds. The user soon turned off all replies to their tweets, right after tweeting about a "racist/misogynistic encounter she's (Swift) had with a celebrity. when nicki minaj tried to call out fatphobic awards shows for prioritizing slim bodies and praising the western beauty standard, swift accused her of being bitter because a "man took her slot".

The tweets made their fair share of rounds and soon the social media platform exploded into two very radical sides. Many chose to believe the alleged pedophilia claims were correct, but Swifties — the loyal fanbase of the singer — weren't having any bit of slander against their favorite star. Targetting the false pedophilia claims, fans mocked the narrative saying, "ppl said taylor swift dating a 17 yr old when she was 19 is pedophilia I am so embarrassed for y’all......please touch grass." Another also noted, "so when taylor swift, a 19 year old girl dates a 17 year old (2 year age gap and not long before he turned 18) it’s pedophilia but when john mayer, a 32 year old man dates a 19 year old it’s fine?" 

One staunch fan even slammed the claims asking, "Do you know what pedophilia even is??! There are a million reasons to dislike Taylor Swift, but using sexual assault this lightly, in some dumb ass trending topic doesn't sit right with me. Disingenuous bullshit." Others also noted that while they were "[...] not talking about the Taylor Swift situation. I am saying that an age gap does not make one a predator and pedophile. I think we can both agree that we can't assume one's intent based on only their age. Both pedophilia and predators are defined by their actions and intents."

For many fans, however, this seemed like an opportunity for Swift to return with another album like the absolute viper that was 'Reputation'.