Gabrielle Ware
Women Are Taking Back The Billboard Music Charts
Taylor Swift and Cardi B. led this week's Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:24 a.m. EST Nov 7, 2017
Taylor Swift's lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union have bad blood thanks to a bold blog post.
In September, website PopFront posted an article entitled, "Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation, with 'Look What You Made Me Do.'" It likened Swift to Adolf Hitler, accused her of quietly supporting racism and called her lyrics "dog whistles to white supremacy."
That prompted Swift's lawyers to write a letter demanding the website "immediately issue a retraction" and stop publishing the material.
They also threatened to sue the blog if those demands weren't met — and the ACLU was not amused. It issued its own letter to Swift's legal team on Monday.
The letter called the post "a mix of core political speech and critical commentary," and said it was protected by the First Amendment.
And in a move that the ACLU dubbed "not without irony," Swift's lawyers said she strongly denounces white supremacy — but then stated the letter containing that denouncement couldn't be made public.
The ACLU also told the attorneys that criticism is unpleasant, but that celebrities like Swift must learn how to "shake it off." They're requesting the lawyers respond by Nov. 13.
