Taylor Swift, 33, was candid about experiencing “slut shaming” and ongoing rumors about her sexuality in the liner notes of her new re-release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). In the statement, the now-billionaire revealed that she focused on her friendships with other women due to the negative remarks about her dating life, as reported by PEOPLE on October 27. “I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentless of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today,” she penned in the notes.
“The jokes about my amount of boyfriends,” Taylor, who is currently dating NFL star Travis Kelce went on to write. “The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath … I had to make it stop because it was really starting to hurt.” Following the public’s constant criticism of the then 24-year-old’s romantic life, Taylor admitted that she “swore off” hanging out with men and prioritized her female friends.
“If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era,” the “Anti-Hero” songstress penned. Taylor broke up with her longtime beau Joe Alwyn in April 2023 after dating for six years and began dating Travis last month.
The Grammy winner went on to write about her decision to dive into her career and herself during that period of her life. “I swore off dating and decided to only focus on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would,” she continued. Taylor concluded the special letter to her fans with an expression of gratitude.
“You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult),” she wrote. “You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.”
The hitmaker announced her latest re-recorded album on August 9 during her Eras Tour. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out now and includes a new re-recorded version of “Bad Blood” featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar, 36.