I’ve never met Taylor Swift, but I know someone who has, and while it was a relatively brief encounter between two people with mutual friends, he said she could not have been any nicer.
That is not the version of Swift some perceived at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
Swift won Album of the Year for her album “Midnights,” making her the first singer ever to receive that honor four times. Unfortunately, the moment was marred for some by what they saw as the 34-year-old’s rudeness to music superstar Celine Dion, who made a surprise appearance to present it despite her personal battle with stiff person syndrome.
Dion announced that she suffered from the rare neurological disorder in December of 2022 and has rarely been seen in public since.
Swift “shared warm embraces with her collaborators Jack Antonoff and Lana Del Rey before snatching her trophy out of the hands of the music legend,” Page Six reported.
? Best believe @taylorswift13 is a four-time Album Of The Year winner: https://t.co/OuKk34l332 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/xJ0wvknPdl
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 5, 2024
Video appeared to show Dion saying “Congratulations” as she passed the award to Swift, but Swift didn’t seem to respond.
In her defense, Swift seemed very surprised and a bit overwhelmed by her win, and, as Page Six pointed out in a separate article, “ignored” boyfriend Travis Kelce in her acceptance speech as well. (Of course, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end wasn’t standing two feet in front of her, as his team is already in Las Vegas preparing for next week’s Super Bowl.)
“It should be [also] noted that Swift, 34, enthusiastically sang along to Dion’s hit ‘The Power of Love’ when the Canadian superstar, 55, made her way onto the stage for her surprise showing at the ceremony,” Page Six wrote, apparently in more defense of Swift.
There were also pictures of the two recording artists taken “moments later” backstage that had the effect of “immediately shutting down any speculation about bad blood,” the outlet noted.
Celine Dion and Taylor Swift backstage at the #GRAMMYs. pic.twitter.com/cCHxfgzJ89
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) February 5, 2024
Those photos may have shut down that speculation — for the record, The Western Journal hasn’t noticed any speculation of “bad blood,” just rudeness on Swift’s part — but it didn’t shut down the complaints on social media about Swift’s behavior.
Taylor Swift just took the album of the year trophy from Celine Dion without batting an eye and/or acknowledging that a legendary ? was handing her the award. So cringey for my soul ? pic.twitter.com/J7LggDVQD8
— eazy e (@estefs) February 5, 2024
“Taylor Swift just took the album of the year trophy from Celine Dion without batting an eye and/or acknowledging that a legendary [GOAT] was handing her the award,” X user “easy e” wrote. “So cringey for my soul.”
User “Mike T” agreed, but with significantly more drama.
Taylor Swift will never EVER live down ignoring Céline Dion at the Grammys pic.twitter.com/QeYxT81K4d
— Mike T (@rhymeswithbeg) February 5, 2024
“Taylor Swift will never EVER live down ignoring Céline Dion at the Grammys,” he wrote.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.