Taylor Swift loves being friends with Beyoncé. But being pitted against her by fans and critics? Not so much.
In her Wednesday (Dec. 6) TIME Person of the Year cover story, the 33-year-old “Anti-Hero” singer opened up about her years-long relationship with Bey. “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.”
The “Karma” musician went on to address a common theme that emerged in pop culture discourse this year: the comparison of her global Eras Tour with the 42-year-old Ivy Park founder’s Renaissance World Tour. Both treks have earned critical acclaim while raking in big bucks, but debates among fans over which tour is the best or most successful have been ongoing.
According to TIME, Swift finds the comparisons upsetting. “There were so many stadium tours this summer, but the only ones that were compared were me and Beyoncé,” she told the publication. “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.”
Whether or not it was intentional, Swift and Bey made a joint statement about their mutual respect for one another by attending each other’s concert film premieres. Following Renaissance‘s premiere overseas, Swift posted a photo with the “Break My Soul” singer on Instagram and wrote, “Got invited to London by The Queen…✨👑✨”
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.”
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