I have been very fortunate in the occupation I selected.
I knew I would never get rich, but I never imagined it would bring a boy from the tenements of the South Bronx into contact with the rich, powerful, and famous.
It’s not what I wanted when I first knocked on journalism’s front door.
I had a gift for writing, newspapers were filled with (mostly, then) men who cursed, drank, and smoked. The few female journalists did, too, most of them. I met my first wife on my college newspaper, and, yes, she cursed, drank and smoked.
It was a fun environment. The thing I liked best was being the first person to know the news, which I then passed along to others.
That’s what news reporters did, and I did that for more than a decade until I was hired to be the features editor of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Suddenly, I was in entertainment — everything from television, radio, film, theater, dining, to ballet, opera, and museums.
Instead of interviewing crime victims or businessmen, I was suddenly thrust into the arts.
Over the years, I interviewed everyone from A to Z — Frankie Avalon to Janet Zappala.
I was a Class B celebrity in the Philadelphia constellation, in with the In Crowd, which, honestly, I never cared for. It wasn’t me, but it became me.
Don’t worry — I’m not going to sing “What I Did for Love,” from “A Chorus Line.”
Oh, yeah. I was a theater critic for two years, and a TV critic for five, before moving into the realm of gossip, which I probably am best known for. To my semi-chagrin.
Gossip was something I never cared for, but a job opened up, and it was a column, and an important one at the Daily News, so I dived in and stayed 17 years, which was a Daily News record for that job.
I rubbed elbows with celebrities, and when it came to evaluating celebrities, I had a simple test:
If male, would I like to have a beer with him?
If female, would I want to get her into bed?
Just kidding. That’s not it.
I would ask myself if I would be proud if she were my daughter?
And that brings us to the Super Bowl and the biggest Super Star, Taylor Swift.
Would I be proud if she were my daughter?
Yes.
I guess that makes me a Swiftie, but I don’t know as much about her as others, so here I turn the column over to a post by Jordan LeVeck, which has been edited.
“This is probably going to tick some people off, and I hope it does. But I’m going to keep on sharing it and saying it. And once again, I am not a Swiftie, but I am a human being, a Dad AND, a Monstrous Football fan.
“I am extremely disappointed in so many of you who think that ‘not being a fan’ of someone means you’re entitled to shit all over them.
“I want to remind you of something.
“Your children are watching you complain about Taylor Swift sitting at a football game, being happy, and cheering for a man she loves in what appears to be a very loving, respectful relationship.
“Your children are watching you judge a woman for literally just EXISTING and taking up space happily.
“And you know what? Ms. Swift has won 324 awards. How many do you have?
“She brought $5 BILLION dollars in consumer spending and boosted the U. S. economy so significantly that leaders from other countries actually beg for her to play there.
“Did you know that there are over 20 college courses about her skills as an artist, lyricist, and musician — including at places like Harvard, Stanford and UC Berkeley?
“Did you know that Taylor Swift quietly donates mass amounts of money to local food banks in every city she performs in?
“AND DID YOU KNOW …
“That Taylor Swift was sexually assaulted by a radio DJ, and she got him fired? When he sued HER for over $3 million for defamation, she counter sued for a symbolic $1 in a court case that took 2 YEARS for her to win. And, she did that just to show women that fighting for what’s right has no price tag and to never be silent in the face of oppression.
“WELL, IF YOU DON’T CARE BY NOW, YOU SHOULD.
“Because your daughters, nieces, and your nephews are watching you run your mouth. And they are seeing the world hate a woman who does so much good, simply because she exists in their line of sight.
“DO BETTER PEOPLE.
“Teach your boys to respect women. Teach your girls that as women — they are ALLOWED to take up space.
“Fix it. Become aware of your words. Because we all have the ability and the obligation to fight for the future of our children with simple moments. And we need to consciously choose to be better for them.”
Well said, Mr. LeVeck.
In addition to food banks, I know she has made gifts to animal shelters because she loves animals. And other charities I am not aware of. That’s part of her brand. She also fights for artists’ rights, has beat recording companies at their own game, and handed out $55 million in bonuses to the army of workers on her Eras tour. (That includes 50 bus drivers who got a reported $100,000 each.)
She is unbelievably gracious to her fans.
Cynics say she does it to further her career. “Haters gonna hate,” she might reply. She is strong, independent, happy.
She seems, well, nice and normal, and yet is a magnet for hate, perhaps driven by jealousy, or by disdain for her mildly Left political views. Yes, she is pro-choice. So are a majority of Americans.
Yes, she voted for Joe Biden in 2020. So did 81 million Americans. She is not a radical.
I haven’t seen so much hate directed toward an innocent female since the days of vicious attacks on the Miss America contestants by raging, bra-burning feminists in the ‘70s, who could have chosen more substantial targets. And some did.
If women are free to make their own choices, a bedrock belief of feminism, that would include pageants. [Personal disclosure: Two of my friends, both highly successful women, were Pageant contestants, one becoming Miss Pennsylvania.]
As for the Miss America contestants, I would be proud if my daughter were among them.
Just like Taylor.
Very nice column, Stu. The lack of civility in today’s society is disheartening. Thank you for restoring some of it.
Well Said Robert.
This entire “Taylor” thing is crazy; I know people who:
Hate her because of her music
Hate her because she’s not longer country music
Hate her because of her politics
Hate others because those people hate her politics
Hate her because she loves cats
Hate her because she’s on the football scene
Hate her because she has a boyfriend; who’s also on the football scene
Hate her because she doesn’t support MY team on the football scene
Hate her because she’s from (almost) Philly
Hate her because she’s not REALLY from Philly
Hate her because of her success AND all the above.
The funny thing, I don’t know of one hater doing better than her. Then I wonder what the hate is all about. ;0)
Well Said Robert.
This entire “Taylor” thing is crazy; I know people who:
Hate her because of her music
Hate her because she’s not longer country music
Hate her because of her politics
Hate others because those people hate her politics
Hate her because she loves cats
Hate her because she’s on the football scene
Hate her because she has a boyfriend; who’s also on the football scene
Hate her because she doesn’t support MY team on the football scene
Hate her because she’s from (almost) Philly
Hate her because she’s not REALLY from Philly
Hate her because of her success AND all the above.
The funny thing, I don’t know of one hater doing better than her. Then I wonder what the hate is all about. ;0)
I agree. Excellent column for sure. The whole “hate Taylor Swift” thing, especially strong among MAGAts is nothing short of grotesque. It completely befuddles me.
Good column and message. Apparently Ms Mohr doesn’t really “get it’.
It’s Dr. Mohr to you dude. And no, I don’t “get” anything about MAGAts, nor the present abomination that is the GOP.
I second Stu’s thought: I would be proud to have a daughter like Taylor Swift. The MAGAT hatred for her is baffling and embarrassing, and it says much more about their lack of character than it does anything about her. They should be ashamed of themselves. But that would require conscience, intellect and introspection, things they clearly do not possess.
Excellent column Stu. The multitudes of ignorant, misogynist, jealous people who worship Trump that are complaining about Taylor Swift are beyond comprehension. Why would anyone complain about young girls sitting and watching football games with their fathers and brothers, if only to see a glimpse of Taylor Swift for a moment? As Charles Barkley said on his CNN show; what is wrong with you people? This is a good thing!
Terrific column, Stu. Whenever you can get Taylor Swift and the Miss America Pageant in the same column, I’m there.
Can we hope that Taylor Swift’s generous and gentile nature, her sense of fair play, graciousness and her modest and honest confidence in herself will have beneficial influence on the behavior of many NFL players who play act an unattractive bravado, prance in absurd end zone antics, chest thumping like school yard bullies, crude and distastefully unsportsmanlike, which undoubtedly influence many young NFL admirers the wrong way? How would Taylor Swift act if she made a goal!
Spell check please: meant to write “genteel nature.”
👍 we need more discussions like this, with hope that the current divided in our culture, while decidedly uninformed, might read and then this divide start to decline.
An example of American Excellence. Taylor is talented, generous, intelligent, beautiful and grounded. Love that she is America’s role model. Good column Stu.
Great column Stu. It is a shame that certain people here, “cough” Dan, “cough” Gardner, will not acknowledge it for its face value.
Well written. I must say that when it comes to so-called high society coverage I feel like its all a cocktail party I was never invited to and that I would not attend.,
Paraphrasing Groucho Marx. So sad to think I may be the biggest “celebrity” you represented. 😅
Your guest went out of his way to encourage people to be more introspective about the words they use. The message was lost on some of your commenters before they even finished reading the article as multiple people, including one who insisted they were overly educated, resorted to name calling. The theme applies to them, too. Great article. I wish your readers could either submit productive comments or none at all. Enjoy the Super Bowl! Thank you!
Thanks. I wish I had a way of addressing everyone. Let me try this THIS TOPIC ATTRACTED MORE COMMENTS THAN ANY OTHER, IN CASE YOU WONDER WHY SHE GETS SO MUCH ATTENTION.
There is a poll out on Swift. https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_US_021424/ A plurality of people approve of her (39%) and only 13% disapprove of her. 43% have no opinion, and 5% have never heard of her.
28% of people are fans, but only 6% call themselves “Swifties.”
Not surprisingly, she has more female fans than male fans (35% of women are fans, while 22% of men are).
What surprised me was that she has more fans in the 35 to 55 age group (36%) than the 18-34 group (27%). No surprise that the fewest fans were 55+ (22%).
Thanks for the data.