YouTube star Todrick Hall spoke out against rumors that his best friend Taylor Swift is a Trump supporter.
In an interview with Yahoo, Todrick neither confirmed nor denied the allegations about Taylor, but instead said, ‘They’re making this huge assumption, when Taylor has never to my knowledge come out and said anything about her being pro-Trump.’
Online users began speculating that Taylor was a Trump supporter after she was unusually silent during the 2016 election. The outrage was due to the fact that she has built her brand on a platform of women empowerment and feminism.
When asked about his friend’s political stance Todrick said that Taylor and her family have always been welcoming to him. ‘All I know is that she has been nothing but a great person to me. I’ve never felt like there was ever a moment that I couldn’t be myself, and talk about the fact that I’m gay or whatever.’
Todrick Hall appears in Taylor Swift’s music video for her new song Look What You Made Me Do
There has been criticism that this particular scene resembles Beyonce’s Formation music video
People took to Twitter to address how Taylor has come out with new music but has yet to address political issues
Some say that she is staying silent to avoid controversy
Todrick spoke out about his friendship with Taylor and accusations that she voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election
When asked if she was a Trump supporter, he neither confirmed or denied but said,’They’re making this huge assumption, when Taylor has never to my knowledge come out and said anything about her being pro-Trump’
Taylor has been targeted in the past for allegedly ‘always playing the victim’
Many celebrities publicly supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and have accused rival Donald Trump of misogyny. A-list Clinton supporters included Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Ellen DeGeneres, and even Taylor’s rival Katy Perry.
And because Taylor is known for her fair-share of drama, her silence led to speculations that she may just be trying to avoid even more controversy. While others find it incriminating that a self-proclaimed feminist won’t speak out against Donald Trump.
Todrick did his best to defend his friend friend and the allegations that she was pushing Trump’s agenda.
‘That was one of the major things that was tweeted at me, and I’m like, ‘So you are mad that you think she might support Donald Trump? But you’re not mad that Kanye has been very openly pro-Trump?’ I don’t understand that,’ he said.
Todrick was referring to the meeting that was held between Kanye West and then President-elect Trump in New York City two weeks after the election. Trump told reporters: ‘We’ve been friends for a long time’ and that they were discussing ‘life’.
Todrick defended Taylor by reminding haters about Kanye West and Donals Trump meeting. ‘So you are mad that you think she might support Donald Trump? But you’re not mad that Kanye has been very openly pro-Trump?’ I don’t understand that,’ he said
One Twitter user rewrote the lyrics of Beyonce’s Formation to describe how they feel about Taylor
But Todrick’s friendship with Taylor may be causing him more online hate than usual.
The Youtube star said that racial criticism is something he deals with every day.
Now he’s receiving backlash from fans for appearing in the music video for Taylor’s most recent single Look What You Made Me Do. Much of the criticism is from the Bey-hive accusing the particular scene with Todrick of looking like a rip-off of Beyonce’s Formation music video.
Users referred to him as a ‘sellout’ for appearing in the video and accused him of turning his back on the black and LGBTQ communities by being friends with the pop star.
Todrick has received hate from the black and LGBTQ communities for being friends with Taylor and appearing in her music video
For now there is no way of knowing Taylor’s political stance until she publicly states it
One comment said, ‘Why is Taylor Swift using gay black men as props, and why is Todrick Hall letting her?’ Another tweet said, ‘Todrick Hall is the black kid who taught all the white girls to twerk, let them say the N word, & never talked to you.’
To that, Todrick said: ‘My whole brand, everything that I stand for and everything I’ve always stood for, is equality and love. So it’s just really difficult for me to understand why it is an issue for people, a legitimate issue, that I have white friends, and that Taylor Swift happens to be one of my many white friends.’
Todrick understands the risk that comes with being a celebrity and said that no matter what he or Taylor does, there will always be some criticism.
‘Maybe one day, Taylor will start being super-political, and using her voice to do the things that people think that she should be doing.’ he added. ‘But even then, she will probably be ridiculed for not being vocal enough, or not being on the right side.’
For now, no one knows Taylor’s political stance and won’t know until she publicly states it.