At the Billboard Music Awards, Taylor Swift put on a dazzling performance of “Me!” alongside Brendan Urie. It was gorgeous. It was coordinated. It was … a total plagiarism of Beyonce’s performance? That’s what the Beyhive is saying — that Taylor Swift gentrified Bey’s famous Coachella routine. Taylor’s live performance of “Me!” featured Taylor walking onto the stage with a bright light behind her. She had her legs parted with a hand on her hip and most of her legs bare. To either side of her were drummers wearing pastel pink. It was a dazzling performance (especially the part with the umbrellas), but a number of people took to Twitter to complain. Why? Because they believe that Taylor ripped of Beyonce’s act from Coachella 2018. Beyonce stunned the Coachella crowd last year with her carefully coordinated performance. She was surrounded by an entire marching band, clad all in yellow, whose dance routine was as flawless as Bey herself. Ever since Bring It On (and, frankly, before that), people have been on the lookout for white performers ripping off black talent. So the Beyhive took to social media and began to share their suspicions that Taylor had stolen Bey’s act. No, not suspicion — accusation . “I don’t know if y’all are seeing this,” wrote one Twitter user. “But Taylor Swift is gentrifying Beyonce’s Coachella performance right now,” the person accused. Obviously, the tweet is having a little fun with the meaning of the word gentrify , but the meaning rings clear. Is this yet another case of a white performer robbing a black artist blind to recycle the act under a white veneer? Not if Taylor’s fans have anything to say about it. After the “Mayochella” allegations were hurled, Swifties took to Twitter to hit back. One of Taylor’s defenders mocked the accusations with a deeply sarcastic tweet. “Beyonce invented standing on stage with two legs how could taylor do that ???” the tweet begins. The joke continues: “SHE’S A COPY CAT BEYONCE DID THAT FIRST.” That’s an exaggeration, of course, but not too far of a stretch from the claim leveled by Taylor’s critics. Thankfully, there were plenty of voices of reason in the mix. “Girl, it’s drums…” one tweet begins. That’s right up there with Kim there’s people that are dying . “Beyonce wasn’t the first to use drums in a performance and Taylor definitely isn’t either,” the tweet points out. Elaborating, the tweeter explains: “Beyonce had a whole as band and Taylor had just drums.” “Y’all need to stop comparing the most general things,” the tweet advises. “Just because you don’t like Taylor.” As to why some people don’t like Taylor, it’s complicated but probably just stems from overexposure from late 2014 through 2016. Some people just get tired of hearing about someone a lot. After so many mentions, you either stan someone or loathe them. But the end of that reasonable tweet really hits the nail on the head. It is 100% okay to not like or even dislike a singer, a song, a performance, or any other piece of media. But you don’t have to pretend that it’s problematic or somehow immoral in order to justify your dislike. Some things just aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay. View Slideshow: 13 Nastiest Celebrity Feuds of 2017
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Taylor Swift Swarmed by the Beyhive, Accused of COPYING Beyonce
