“I know this probably wasn’t the type of graduation you thought you’d have,” said Taylor Swift in a video sent out to all the quarantined graduates of 2020. She spoke to her young fans and people around the world through Youtube’s global virtual commencement ceremony, which hoped to bring together newly graduated people in a way that couldn’t happen this year because of the coronavirus.
“I can relate to that,” she added, before sharing her own story of missing her own graduation. Her situation was quite different. She explained back then, she was a radio music tour with her mom, traveling in ‘rental cars’ around the country and having her diploma mailed to her. “That wasn’t what I pictured,” Taylor explained when she thought about her fantasy of graduation. But she conceded that something came from the experience for her.
“I guess one good lesson to come from it,” Taylor said, “is expect the unexpected, but celebrate anyway. I’m so proud of you guys and hope you have a wonderful time and are really proud of yourselves.”
While Taylor used her voice to celebrate graduates today, earlier in the week, she used her reach to talk about an all together different topic, but one that still affects young people immensely. In the middle of the ongoing protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, President Trump‘s made remarks the glorified violence and were racist in context, tweeting,” when looting starts, the shooting starts”. Taylor was quick to respond.
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
“We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump,” Taylor responded in her heavily-celebrated tweet in response, and considering her fan base, we can’t help but think the ‘we’ includes many of the young folks she reached out to during the Youtube event. Certainly, many young celebrities, like Halsey, Camila Cabello, and Ariana Grande, have taken to the streets to join the protests. Meanwhile, Barack and Michelle Obama, who delivered commencement speeches during ceremony, have also been increasingly outspoken and supportive of protesters still taking to the streets.
As for the graduates, along with Taylor and the Obamas, they heard from many other huge stars who wanted to honor their achievements over the past year. Stars like Beyoncé, Ciara & Russell Wilson, and Demi Lovato, just to name a few, joined in on the telecast to wish them a bright and promising future. Here’s looking ahead to it!