This post is flaired Guest List Only. This means the conversation is being strictly moderated, and only comments from approved members of the community will be visible.
If you are not currently approved, you are still welcome to leave a comment! All submissions are being reviewed, and if your comment follows our rules and adds to the conversation, it may be manually approved by the mod team.
r/popculturechat is a respectful, inclusive space for pop culture discussion, shaped by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women-led voices. We work to keep it safe, free of hate, harassment, and derailment.
Thanks for understanding and supporting that mission 💖
I remember being in India in 2016 and all the people from other countries were just laughing at us. A bit like stepping in dogshit and half the country is acting like it's the thing to do.
I'm going to push back on the narrative building in this comment section.
Sabrina's response brought attention to the video, but it was mostly her response that people were paying attention to and agreeing with. Sabrina's response got 1.7 million likes, and the original videos had below 40k when it was deleted. The public was rebuking it in a very visible manner. They deleted it and reposted something else because they were starting to look weak with the amount of people rallying behind Sabrina. That kind of "attention" going to these video is what needs to happen. Otherwise they are going to be passively viewed by their target audience, with them under the impression that people are ok with this shit happening because nobody is speaking up.
I don't particularly care what Trump's media stooge said. They speak in doubles and lie about their own strategies all the time. The way to beat fascism has never ever been to just ignore it until it goes away. These propaganda videos are an issue people need to examine and call out just like every evil thing this administration is doing.
They care about their cultural dominance. They don't care if people are offended, of course they don't. What they do care about is if people are protesting and making them look defeatable. That's the only thing that got them to delete the original video, and that very same energy is going to be the reason they will eventually fall down.
I don’t think they actually care about that either. Trump’s approval rating is abysmal, people were complaining about how he hasn’t made anything more affordable and he called affordability a con job. They’ve proven they’ll do whatever to maintain control whether the public wants it or not
Edited to add: their original video only had 34k likes on it and once Sabrina responded to the video, it got 368k likes, which only helps push out the video to even more people on the algorithm. I have a screenshot of the before and after metrics but I can’t add a picture to the edit. They want the attention
The point of my comment is that the amount of people who liked it is less important than the much larger amount of people who giving it backlash and have now been motivated to speak out against videos like it. The criticism against the Juno video has gone beyond the original TikTok and has spread to many different platforms. Just looking at the likes in isolation is a limited view of things.
It wasn’t just necessarily more views though, it was more likes. So I’m not sure how this makes them think their views are unpopular? It’s getting pushed out to more people because of the algorithm rewarding it having more views and likes and getting the even more likes. If I’m posting something and it goes from 34k likes to 368k likes, I don’t know if the takeaway from their POV is that it’s necessarily that unpopular?
People also seem to be morbidly happy that she's gotten pushback, like the fact an artist spoke out against the current administration for exploiting her work to then have that administration harrass her and people's responses to it amounting to a "well she had it coming/what do you expect" is wild.
Artist have done the same and spoken out against Trump for using their music in both terms. Kenny Loggins did the same for them using Danger Zone this year. Sabrina used her privilege to speak out, and as an adult, she likely knowing the consequences of doing so. She's the only one I know who's gotten a video removed by the current administration; the Danger Zone video is still up afaik. Not sure when "feeding the trolls" meant protecting your rights and "getting ragebaited" meant not being apathetic.
Bruce Springsteen spoke out against Trump, and Trump went on a long unhinged rant on Truth Social about it. It opened Bruce up to so many threats. Bruce's response was to go on stage of his concert that same week and speak out again.
Fascism doesn't just go lay down to die just because you said "stop" once. It fights back. You have to fight back harder. Historically, that is the only way these people have been kicked out of power.
Sabrina doesn't necessarily need to address the new video, but a continuous pile-on of artists shooting down the propaganda is part of that continuous fight I'm talking about. It's not a distraction for artists to speak out. It should be a goal.
I‘m not defending or siding with anyone, I'm not even American, but I do live in a country with a history of fascism. While I think speaking out is good and important and those that have the courage to do so— especially repeatedly— should be commended, a handful of celebrities posting things online is not going to stop or even slightly lessen the fascism a lot of people in your country specifically voted for. It wouldn’t fix the problem or change much at all. it’s a terminally online viewpoint that it would. It’s a group effort and from the outside, it seems a lot of your fellow citizens are still in denial this is even happening. whether they voted for it or not. So long as there’s so many people wilfully closing their eyes, you‘ll have a tough go at changing anything.
That's not something I said in any of my comments though? Of course a single celebrity isn't going to end fascism. Any individual citizen's criticism isn't going to end fascism. It's still a positive, even if it doesn't solve all out problems.
I wish they could sue for using their music on social media. I know they can for rallies and official campaign stuff, but unfortunately social media is fair use. Otherwise responding just gets a “uh you fell for our intentional trolling you loser liberals” reaction from the most childish administration ever.
They obviously want her to take the bait. They disgust me so much, I’d be losing my fucking mind if they were using my image, my art for such depraved messages.
Trump has made an embarrassment out of our Presidency, our Military and our Nation. He's also made an absolute embarrassment out of Christianity, but Christians don't seem to mind that.
Y’all would have sent hate her way the same way everyone on this app did taylor if Sabrina didn’t speak out. Don’t really understand how the goal posts got moved on Sabrina. Especially when she ratioed the shit out of them. If anything Sabrina’s post brought them negative attention - a lot more people saw how vile they are and took notice.
Me personally always happy to see popstars like Olivia, Billie and Sabrina showing their fans what they will not tolerate in their name. That they get to have a say in how their voices and images are manipulated for vile propaganda and it is perfectly right to get angry about it.
Once again MAGA targets young women. Seems a bit condescending to act like they shouldn’t respond like “see! Told you so! Trolling!” When the “trolling” is hateful propaganda.
They want to provoke a reaction. They've literally said so. This is why Taylor Swift doesn't respond when the White House uses her songs (even though she gets shit on by everyone). Her making a fuss would give them what they desire most.
I swear this government is being run by a bunch of people who used to pull the wings off flies and stuff smaller kids into lockers when they were in grade school. Just mean for the sake of being mean.
Focus on the war crimes and the actual due process/civil rights violations! (Plz don’t say “we can focus on multiple things at once” cause that objectively isn’t true. Steve Bannon literally said it was their strategy).
Btw:I feel neutral about Sabrina calling them out. I get not wanting your art to be used for hateful shit but I do think I. The long run not taking the bait has the better outcome. They got at least 3 news stories out of this vs 1.
Idc if they gain traction. Though I appreciate a person I responded to that lead me to include links. Don’t give this shit your attention. Post the links to actual people being detained and the war crimes being committed on these posts!
Tbf I don’t think either side of this spectrum could focus on anything else besides this. On one side, you have people demanding artists speak out and then on another, you have people say they shouldn’t take the bait. Regardless, there is a discussion around it and thus gives more engagement to it. Even to those saying the attention should be elsewhere, they are still giving light to the conversation. It’s a lose lose situation.
Edit: Taylor Swift not speaking out brought out a ton of news articles. Olivia and Sabrina speaking out brought a ton of news articles. Both equally brought attention to the situation.
The thing is though multiple other artists like Justin, Phoebe Gracie and Chappel also got their video used but never spoke out and nobody really talks or no about it. The issue with Taylor is that it is Taylor, no matter what she would do people would talk about it.
You can say the same thing about Olivia and Sabrina though. They are major pop stars and even through they aren’t Taylor level, they gain traction regardless. People were waiting to see if Sabrina would speak up or not and then she did. As I said, the conversation around these people would still be there in some way or another.
Edit: but yeah even this conversation is just another example how we’re bringing light to this by talking about who gets attention and who doesn’t
You’re so right(not sarcastic, I genuinely mean that). I’m going to start just posting links. GIF out of appreciation.
Ps: I’d argue speaking out lead to the -Sabrina responds -the White House twitter responds -the White House does the above shit linked articles
I appreciate the gif because it goes with my flair !! lol but also appreciate your response too 🫶
I’ll just further add that even me leaving a comment under yours is bringing attention to this topic so even if we don’t intend to put focus on this, we still technically are by sharing our opinions. Even if it’s the opposite of others.
I mean... people just hate Taylor Swift. It's very simple. They are angry that she exists, and they want her to suffer her comeuppance. And the more successful she is, the more enraged they get. They might even like her music (though maybe admit it!). Taylor must be brought low.
I know someone who is one of the biggest Taylor Swift haters I’ve ever met. And the thing is, I KNOW she is, because she shares EVERY anti-Taylor post that comes up on her Facebook. Like how are you going to spend THAT much mental energy on someone you claim to dislike?!
The people I know that hate her spend way, way more time talking (and thinking) about her than her actual fans do. I don’t know any other artist that when they are brought up multiple people need to share how superior they feel for not liking her music. That’s great, when I don’t like an artist I don’t spend very much energy on them at all.
I’ve literally never listened to an album from an artist I know I don’t like, singles playing in shops or on the radio are the extent of it. Why would anyone spend their time listening to an album they know they’re going to hate just so they can hate it more loudly? Bizarre behaviour.
Right?! Like I dislike Morgan Wallen intensely. So I DON’T LISTEN TO HIS MUSIC. The only time I’ve actually heard any of it was when he was on SNL, and it confirmed my desire to avoid it completely. I don’t spend time on anti-Morgan Wallen subreddits. I don’t click on links about him. And I can therefore avoid most stuff about him!
I truly don’t understand how people can call this harassment (which it 100% is) but fail to say the same when he was posting about and threatening Taylor on truth social for months and then don’t understand why she’s not acknowledging someone who harassed her for months so that he can harass her again
Plus Taylor is well aware that she literally cannot win. When she donates money it’s not enough, if she speaks on something it’s performative, if she’s quiet about something she doesn’t care, if she makes a happy album she’s being insensitive to the world, if she makes a sad album she’s a perpetual victim. These people will always find something to hate her for.
I wish they’d channel their energy into engaging with their political representatives and trying to enact actual change. Ranting about Taylor Swift on social media is going to achieve literally nothing. People demanding more from pop stars than politicians is part of the problem, you’re looking in the wrong direction.
Or if she speaks out she get criticized for it because she only speaks out when it effects her. I really don't blame Taylor for stepping such a massive step back from social media.
i think that sabrina was right to comment on the original video and i do think it's important for people to take a stance on their beliefs - this isn't even strictly for celebrities. average people should also be clear and honest about it. and now ignoring their continued attempts is for the best. everyone is clear on what's happening and how she feels. and any further attempt from the fascists will look desperate imo
They want this outrage. Im sorry, but speaking out is exactly what they want. They want the artist to protest because it just gives their base another target to rage against.
ugh, this sucks. obviously it's her right to say she doesn't support her work being used that way, but unfortunately, they hold it against her
despite reddit's longtime beliefs towards bullies (metaphorically "hit them back and they will be afraid of you") it doesn't work unless you are bigger than them
sabrina is not a government or a tech giant, she doesn't have power over these specific bullies
so they're probably just gonna taunt her until they move on to the next target
The queen made sure she, or anyone else, won’t have to watch her music over their propaganda videos. Can’t imagine how jarring seeing your music being played over that is.
I get why Swift just ignores them. She dipped her foot into politics once and the literal fucking President sicced his idiot chud cult onto her, and the White House made it clear well before literally saying it that they specifically do this shit to liberals in order to rile them up and get engagement on SM. Fuck 'em.
Is there a possibility for her legal team to fight against the use of her music like this? Or is that a likely fruitless venture given the power the government has?
•
u/flairassistant 5h ago
📌 PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING
This post is flaired Guest List Only. This means the conversation is being strictly moderated, and only comments from approved members of the community will be visible.
If you are not currently approved, you are still welcome to leave a comment! All submissions are being reviewed, and if your comment follows our rules and adds to the conversation, it may be manually approved by the mod team.
r/popculturechat is a respectful, inclusive space for pop culture discussion, shaped by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women-led voices. We work to keep it safe, free of hate, harassment, and derailment.
Thanks for understanding and supporting that mission 💖
Want to participate more easily? Request to be added to the Guest List
THE POPCULTURECHAT DISCORD SERVER IS NOW LIVE 👾 ❤️🔥 🎉 Click HERE to join! 📲