Journalist Reveals Taylor Swift's Blackmail Tactic To Get Good Album Reviews

She wants praise and praise only.

Taylor Swift’s Blackmail Tactic To Get Good Reviews. Taylor Swift performing on state, singing into a mic Brian Friedman / Shutterstock
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In September, a former journalist revealed what could be Taylor Swift's secret to getting critical acclaim.

The singer just released her latest hit album, "Midnights" and positive reviews have been flooding in from fans and critics.

With all of her incredible success over the past decade and a whopping net worth of over $360 million, Swift is truly the “Artist of the Decade” (at least, according to the American Music Awards in 2019).

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But, given how the few journalists who have shared anything but glowing reviews for Swift over the years have been treated, it's hard to know if all the positive feedback in sincere.

RELATED: Taylor Swift’s Former Classmate Explains Why ‘Most People Hated Her’ During High School

A journalist claimed Taylor Swift's team threatened to 'blacklist' anyone who gave her negative reviews.

Eric Eidelstein, a writer on HBO's "Gossip Girl" reboot, shared that when he was still working as a journalist it was an unspoken rule not to mess with Swift's team.

Eidelstein shared his thoughts in response to a claim from another writer, Geoff Nelson, that he was encouraged to slander Swift's "Reputation" album.

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“Ok, but conversely when I was in that writing world, Taylor’s team would threaten to blacklist publications if they wrote anything negative about her,” Eidelstein wrote in a now-deleted tweet visible in the video below.

RELATED: 9 Strict Rules Taylor Swift Allegedly Makes Her Boyfriends Follow

   

   

RELATED: 8 Strict Rules Taylor Swift Makes Her Employees Follow

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As TikToker @tellthebeees notes, the debate around Swift's strategy for keeping fans on side while positioning herself as an underdog are nothing new.

In fact, in 2019, an Outline article by journalist B.D. McClay called Taylor Swift a "sore winner" for refusing to accept anything but utter adoration.

McClay explains that, even in the midst of her great success, “Swift won’t stop whining…always being betrayed by somebody, or, in some cases, anticipating such betrayal.”

With an eye-watering number of album sales, Swift is hardly struggling to get her flowers but her lyrics would suggest otherwise.

Swift has been positioning herself as a victim despite her obvious success.

Swift, like all women, is certainly a victim of misogyny and has faced her fair share of sexism in the music industry, but is it fair to say that every bad review comes from a place of male privilege?

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Online, others have begun pushing back against Swift, accusing her of ignoring her own privilege in order to further the themes of betrayal she explores in her music.

RELATED: 7 Strict Rules Ariana Grande Reportedly Makes Her Staff and Assistants Follow

Especially in this world of media and art, not every singer will be liked by every single person — it’s something that nobody can control. But, even when people dislike you, “you are still not the victim”, as Tiktoker @tellthebeees explains. 

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All in all, Swift’s success has brought her a dedicated fanbase, immense fame, and an ingrained place as an icon in music history, maybe she should start acknowledging that.

RELATED: 8 Times Taylor Swift & John Mayer Have Called Each Other Out Publicly

Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango. They cover topics ranging from pop culture analysis to human interest stories. They are currently based in East Lansing, MI. Catch up with them on their Instagram or TikTok.