| | |  | Taylor Swift News & Gossip
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| | Taylor Swift is 'happy to make a contribution' to 'The Folklore' business owner | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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As we discussed, Taylor Swift is in some hot water. Or maybe just ?very warm water.? While Taylor dropped her latest album, folklore, with zero advanced press or fanfare, she did organize a huge merchandise campaign, and originally, the merch included the label ?The Folklore Album.? The labels looked a lot like the labels/branding for The Folklore, a Black-owned business. Amira Rasool owns The Folklore, and as soon as she caught a glimpse of Taylor?s merch, she contacted Taylor?s people. Taylor and Rasool?s teams have been talking and Taylor has already changed the labels, dropping ?the? from ?the folklore album.? Rasool said more to WWD:
When Amira Rasool saw the merch one week ago: ?I was so surprised and so shocked and it was really devastating. I saw it happen to small Black business owners, and I was really sad,? she said. She had her lawyers at Fenwick & West reach out to Swift?s team to let them know about the similarity in the logo design and how it was causing confusion in the market. Rasool said she had already received an e-mail from one of Swift?s fans inquiring about the album?s digital download.
This is interesting: ?The main thing was having ?The Folklore? when the album was just called ?Folklore,? Rasool said. She also believes there was similarity to the way the word ?the? in the logo was vertically placed. She said if one Googles ?The Folklore,? Rasool?s logo comes up, and she feels Swift?s people would have seen that. Swift is making sweatshirts and merchandise, along with a cardigan that ties in with one of her songs.
Taylor?s management?s statement: ?Yesterday, we were made aware of a complaint that the specific use of the word ?the? before ?Folklore album? on some of the Folklore album merchandise was of concern. Absolutely no merchandise using ?the? before the words ?Folklore Album? has been manufactured or sent out. In good faith, we honored her request and immediately notified everyone who had ordered merchandise with the word ?the? preceding ?Folklore Album,? that they will now receive their order with the design change.?
What The Folklore is all about: The Folklore, a New York-based web site that received its trademark in 2018, features more than 30 designers from Africa and the diaspora and serves as a cultural hub for contemporary brands, artists and creates to showcase their personal stories. Most of the fashion, accessories and homewares are handmade by local artisans based in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Cote D?Ivoire. In addition to operating as an online concept store, The Folklore also provides wholesale services to African designer brands interested in penetrating the global retail market. ?It?s not just damaging to one Black woman, it?s all the brands that we work with,? Rasool said. All of her web site?s merchandise says ?The Folklore? on its hangtags, but the actual designer?s name is on the inside label. Rasool said she eventually plans to make merchandise with ?The Folklore? label.
The snake fam attacked Rasool: Rasool said Swift?s fans were attacking her on Twitter for speaking out ?and calling me b?h and a liarShe [Taylor] has stood up and defended her trademarks before. She?s a big proponent of people standing up and speaking out. For me to be attacked and say I?m doing this for attention?,? she said. People on Twitter were vehement, saying there was no similarity in the logo?s design. But the name is the same. ?I think there was a lot of damage to my brand for me speaking out. I don?t think I deserved that.?
[From WWD]
Interesting how WWD dropped the most important legal issue in there Rasool owns the trademark for ?The Folklore.? And before last week, ?The Folklore? site was one of the first hits on Google, so clearly? people on Taylor?s team did not do their due diligence before the merchandise was made. I also think the statement from Taylor?s team doesn?t make much sense ?Absolutely no merchandise using ?the? before the words ?Folklore Album? has been manufactured or sent out.? Clearly, the merch was manufactured. The merch was not sent out, because they began changing the labels (to the merch which was manufactured!). I mean, how did Rasool know there was an issue if the merch had not already been manufactured, you know?
Anyway, all of that to say, Taylor did respond to one of Rasool?s tweets yesterday. I feel like Taylor is trying to do right. Now. After her team clearly fked up and after her unhinged fans attacked Rasool online. Also: ?contribution to your company? might be code for Taylor paying a quiet settlement for stepping all over Rasool?s trademark.
Amira, I admire the work you?re doing and I?m happy to make a contribution to your company and to support the Black in Fashion Council (launching on 8/3) with a donation ?@thefolklore @amirarasool @bifcglobal #blackinfashioncouncil
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 30, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift's 'folklore' seems light on blind-item snake drama, right' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, folklore, last week. I?ve been hearing ?Cardigan? on the radio all week, and I?ve been enjoying it more and more every time I hear it. It?s a really nice, chilled-out summer song, and I actually think the tinge of sadness/nostalgia really works for this summer in particular. This is not the summer where people are partying non-stop. Perhaps bittersweet nostalgia vibes work best in a pandemic. That?s what critics are saying too, that this album is great and it?s got a really nice vibe and all of that. And as always, the sales are amazing. She sold more than 1.4 million albums/downloads in the first 24 hours. ?Cardigan? has been #1 on Spotify since it came out.
There?s been a lot of, uh, Snake Fam conversations about ?did Taylor reveal the baby name of Blake Lively?s third child,? and? okay, I get it, the fam loves some inane Taylor Swift blind items. But what?s even more surprising is that? there arent more of those blind items. Have you noticed that? Usually we would be knee-deep in conspiracies, thinkpieces, blind item mysteries and more. While Taylor has gotten great reviews, there?s also not a lot of media and gossip beyond that.
Personally, I?m more interested in her quarantine bangs and general styling around folklore. I?m enjoying the folksy styling, but the quarantine bangs have to go! Turns out, she styled herself for the ?cardigan? video she said: ?I even did my own hair, makeup, and styling. The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other.? That?s pretty awesome, because I was wondering about that. It?s one thing to create an album in quarantine, when people can work in separate studios or socially distance in a studio. But putting together a music video in lockdown conditions is something else. And she did it!
She also released a second video for Cardigan.
Incidentally, if you want some vintage Kaylor drama, check this out. My question is: has Karlie Kloss really not ?liked? any of Taylor?s tweets or Instagrams in the past week?
Also, this was very sweet:
.@TaylorSwift13 sends ?folklore? merch to Kobe Bryant?s daughter, Natalia:
?I?m OBSESSED with folklore!? pic.twitter.com/VtmG2nGgPL
Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 25, 2020
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| | Are Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban breaking Australia's quarantine rules' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are back in Australia because she?s about to film a movie there next month. They arrived more than two weeks ahead of the production start date specifically so they could follow the Australian government?s quarantine regulations. Australia has been held up as one of the success stories in the pandemic because they locked down early and thoroughly, and as of this writing, they have had less than 15,000 cases and less than 200 deaths. There is a spike in infections in Victoria which has caused concerns of a ?second wave,? but that?s why Australia is still enforcing strict quarantine and travel rules. One of those rules is about quarantining for two weeks when someone arrives in the country, which is what Nicole and Keith are doing. But the rule is that people have to quarantine in specific government-run hotel rooms where (I would presume) they can be monitored and tested regularly. Nicole and Keith aren?t doing that?
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have been caught up in controversy in their native Australia after claims the couple were flouting the country?s ultra-strict quarantine protocols in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Australia, it?s mandatory for citizens arriving from another country to quarantine for two weeks in a government-managed hotel room. According to a report in The Times, the pair were hit with backlash when it was discovered they were able to skip the state-mandated hotel and quarantine at their luxurious home, located 75 miles outside Sydney.
New South Wales Premiere Gladys Berejiklian has stated that there will be ?no exceptions? from the hotel quarantine; however, Kidman and Urban were granted an exemption, even though the published rules state that exemptions will only be granted ?in very limited circumstances on grounds of health or compassion.? New South Wales health authorities, The Times reports, wouldn?t comment on why they couple and their children were allowed to quarantine at their home.
However, Kidman?s publicist, Wendy Day, insisted everything is on the up and up.
?It?s absolute garbage,? Day told The Sydney Morning Herald. ?She is paying for all her own security and following all the rules, they are in isolation.?
Kidman, Day added, is using the time in quarantine to prepare for her new role in Hulu miniseries ?Nine Perfect Strangers?, with the $100-million production scheduled to being production on Aug. 10.
[From ET]
They?re not actually breaking the rules while the local officials have said that ?there will be no exceptions,? it?s clear that Australian authorities are giving exceptions to many high-profile people and celebrities entering the country. I would assume that Nicole and Keith have been told to just stay in their big mansion and not go out at all and that?s what they?re doing. Which is what they would have been doing at a government-run hotel too, although we don?t know the testing protocols and whether or not Kidman & Urban are following those. Basically, Nicole and Keith aren?t technically breaking the rules but they are getting special treatment from the government because they?re rich and famous.
Nicole is also listening to Taylor Swift?s folklore, and Nicole posted this video from behind-the-scenes on the set of Beguiled, a few years ago. Nicole thinks her look on that movie makes her ?folklore sisters? with Taylor. Which is super-cute, honestly.
View this post on Instagram
On the set of #BeguiledMovie ?#Folklore Sisters Love this album xx
A post shared by Nicole Kidman (@nicolekidman) on Jul 24, 2020 at 5:23pm PDT
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| | Taylor Swift's 'folklore' is full of rainy-day chilled-out woodland fairy drama | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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View this post on Instagram
In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I?ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it?s up to you to pass them down. folklore is out now. ?: Beth Garrabrant
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jul 23, 2020 at 9:06pm PDT
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| | Taylor Swift will release her new album 'folklore' tonight at midnight | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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I?ve been so grateful that Taylor Swift hasn?t chimed in this month on Kanye West. She could have said some sh-t, and I think there would have been many people who would have applauded her if she said some sh-t, but she didn?t. And so I?ll applaud her maturity there. It?s also interesting to see how Taylor hasn?t been making a ton of news during the lockdown/pandemic. She?s used her platform to talk about Black Lives Matter and good for her, but there hasn?t been any gossip. I wondered if she was using this time to work and it turns out, she was doing exactly that. She?s pulling a Beyonce and dropping a surprise album at midnight tonight. The album is called folklore.
Surprise ? Tonight at midnight I?ll be releasing my 8th studio album, folklore; an entire brand new album of songs I?ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. Pre-order at https://t.co/zSHpnhUlLb pic.twitter.com/4ZVGy4l23b
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 23, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift wants Juneteenth to be a national holiday & she gave her staff the day off | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Happy Juneteenth! It should be said more often: Taylor Swift has been perfect during the pandemic. I?m being completely serious! She was there, very early on before states began to close, telling her fans to social distance and avoid public spaces. Taylor?s ass has been in lockdown all this time too the only times we?ve ?seen? her in months is through her own social media. She?s been using this downtime to work, reflect and educate herself, and work to be a better ally to all marginalized communities. In recent months, she?s posted heartfelt and accurate statements about Donald Trump?s white supremacy, the murder of Ahmaud Aubry, and the need to take down all of those stupid Confederate statues. And now this message about Juneteenth:
Happy Juneteenth! I want to thank @TheRoot and @RhapsoDani for allowing me to post this video about the significance of today, June 19th, and why it should be celebrated as a National holiday. https://t.co/7yjwh4Lddg
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 19, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift: Take down all of the statues & monuments to 'despicable' racists | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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I remember when that white supremacist sh-thead killed nine black people at bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, and the state of South Carolina decided, days later, to remove the Confederate flag from the state buildings. As it was happening, I thought it was too little, too late. But the reaction from the African-American community in SC was so positive, it became a reminder (to me) of the power of symbolism in our everyday lives. Especially here in the South, where CB and I live (not together!), there are those kinds of Confederate symbols, statues and iconography everywhere.
Growing up around those symbols warps you. It warped me. ?It?s just a dumb statue,? I would tell myself, ?yes it?s awful, but doesn?t matter.? But those dumb statues matter to neo-Nazis and those statues matter to the marginalized people who pass them every day. So now I say: rip them all down. Burn the Treason Flag. Behead every Columbus statue. Dismantle every memorial to slave traders and traitors. Taylor Swift has gotten to that point too. She posted this on her social media on Friday:
As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.
Edward Carmack?s statue was sitting in the state Capitol until it was torn down last week in the protests. The state of Tennessee has vowed to replace it. FYI, he was a white supremacist newspaper editor who published pro-lynching editorials and incited the arson of the office of Ida B. Wells (who actually deserves a hero?s statue for her pioneering work in journalism and civil rights). Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.
Then we get to this monstrosity. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a brutal slave trader and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who, during the Civil War, massacred dozens of black Union soldiers in Memphis. His statue is still standing and July 13th is ?Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.? Due to social pressure, the state is trying to overrule this, and Tennesseans might no longer have to stomach it. Fingers crossed.
Taking down statues isn?t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe not just the white ones. We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ?heroes? to ?villains.? And villains don?t deserve statues.
I?m asking the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments. When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can?t change history, but you can change this.
[From Taylor Swift?s Twitter]
When I find myself nodding in agreement with Taylor Swift on a regular basis, you know we?re through the looking glass. I have no problem with anything she said, nor do I have a problem with Taylor being the one to say it. This is an area where women like Taylor Swift succeed she?s using her inherent Karen-ness (or her inherent Darth Susan-ness) for good deeds. She wants to speak to the manager of racism in Tennessee and she?s demanding that the manager of racist statues speak to her concerns immediately. This is called ?using your privilege.? And Taylor knows the power of symbolism too. [Insert snake emoji]
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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| | Taylor Swift calls out Donald Trump for 'stoking the fires of white supremacy' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Derek Chauvin and three other police officers killed George Floyd last Monday in Minneapolis. The four police officers were fired within 24 hours. But they weren?t arrested for days. Minneapolis became the site of protests and riots. Regarding those riots, there?s growing evidence suggesting that white MAGA Nazi types are infiltrating peaceful protests and ?instigating? some of those riots too. With Minneapolis on the verge of a fiery weekend full of protests and riots, the Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman finally got off his ass and arrested Chauvin. The three other officers involved in George Floyd?s murder remain free and unarrested. Freeman even bragged that this was ?the fastest? the country has ever arrested a cop. Like that?s a good thing, that they usually slow walk the sh-t out these kinds of things, or that so many violent-murderer cops aren?t even charged or arrested.
Just after Chauvin was arrested and charged, his wife Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce and her lawyer released this statement: ?She is devastated by Mr. Floyds death and her utmost sympathy lies with his family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy.? She either filed for divorce to protect their assets, or she?s seen first-hand what kind of man her husband is and she knew this was the moment to GTFO. Or both, honestly. It will be interesting to see what happens there.
Before Chauvin?s arrest, celebrities and politicians began making statements online. Taylor Swift decided to chime in after she read Donald Trump?s unhinged tweets about shooting all of the looters. She tweeted:
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ?When the looting starts the shooting starts???? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
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| | Taylor Swift posts about the racially motivated killing of Ahmaud Arbery | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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View this post on Instagram
? ? biiig isolation ? ?
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 7, 2020 at 10:26am PDT
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| | Taylor Swift has spent the lockdown cooking, drinking wine & listening to music | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Taylor Swift made news last week because she disavowed the ?live album? being released by her old label, the one purchased by Scooter Braun with the help of various investors. Much like the Kanye West beef, I get tired of relitigating Taylor?s Scooter Braun beef, especially because she?s taking some really strange tangents. Apparently, it?s no longer just about her beef with Scooter Braun, she?s also saying sh-t about George Soros consistently now. One of Soros? companies helped finance Braun?s purchase of Big Machine. Taylor is attacking Soros now too, calling him ?shamelessly greedy.? Soros is a favorite boogeyman for right-wing media, and when Fox News talks about ?Soros? anything, that?s the dog-whistle for ?Jewish people.? Not that Taylor or her people take my advice, but I hope someone is telling her that this really isn?t the argument she wants to make?
Anyway, I?m more curious about how Taylor is spending her lockdown, especially since she?s been pretty good about keeping quiet. We haven?t seen her in public in more than a month. She warned her fans mid-March to stay home and go into lockdown, which I appreciated. Apparently, Swift told People Magazine that she?s just cooking and drinking wine:
Taylor Swift is giving fans a peek into her laid-back lifestyle during the coronavirus pandemic. The superstar singer, who appears in Peoples current Beautiful issue, told the magazine that self-quarantine has allowed her some quality downtime at home.
I love spending a full evening cooking a meal while sipping a glass of wine and listening to old music, Swift told People. In early April, the 30-year-old pop star acted as a DJ for SiriusXMs Hits 1 n chill show, where she revealed to fans that much of her time these days is spent at home reading, cooking, and watching old movies.
But mostly I?ve been online trying to figure out how to help others, and just constantly in awe of our first responders and our emergency workers and our healthcare professionals who are putting themselves in danger every single day that they go to work, she said.
[From Billboard]
I wonder if Taylor is a good cook. For some reason, I imagine she?s a better baker, which I?ve always felt is a separate skill. There are plenty of great cooks who can?t bake for sh-t, and vice versa. Like, I would trust Taylor to be able to whip up a cake or a batch of cookies from scratch before I?d trust her to do a good brisket. But maybe she?s taking this time to improve her cooking skills. Lots of people are, from what I can see. Meanwhile, I got takeout from the same place twice this weekend.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
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