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And Finally Artist News
Charli XCX loves Taylor Swift and her fans (even the five year olds)
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 7 August 2019
Taylor Swift fans have been proving their maturity by getting in a strop after Charli XCX referred to them as “five year olds” in a new interview. The British pop star, meanwhile, has said her comments were taken out of context.
In the interview with Pitchfork, Charli XCX was discussing being the opening act on Swift’s US tour last year, which saw her getting on stage at 6pm, as opposed to the late night club shows she’d become accustomed to. The article presents this as something she sees as a negative, leading her to decide never to be a support act for a pop star again.
“I’m really grateful that [Taylor] asked me on that tour”, she’s quoted as saying. “But as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to five year olds. I’ve done so much of it [opening for other people], and it really cemented my status as this underdog character, which I like now. But I need to just own my own fucking shit finally”.
Swift fans quickly rallied online, declaring Charli XCX’s career to be over, and berating her for being so ungrateful for what they believe to be the highlight of said career. Basically, they largely took the Charli XCX quote to mean that she felt opening for Swift was beneath her. Being a Taylor Swift fan seems really exhausting. Unless you have the energy of a five year old, of course.
In a long response on Twitter, Charli XCX said that she wanted “to clarify that there is absolutely no shade and only love here”.
“As I say in the article and have said many times before, I am extremely grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her”, she went on. “She’s one of the biggest artists of my generation and the ‘Reputation’ tour was one of the biggest tours in history”.
Explaining her comments about the tour’s audience, she said: “In the printed conversation of this much wider conversation, my answers about this tour were boiled down into one kind of weird sentence. Leading up to that tour I’d been playing a tonne of eighteen plus club shows and so, to be on stage in front of all ages, was new to me and made me approach my performances with a whole new kind of energy”.
But, she adds, “More so I talked about how it was brilliant opening for Taylor, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I was given and how much fun it was to perform to a new audience!”
“Any tour I’ve been on with any other artist as an opening act has always taught me so much”, she concluded. “It’s always wonderful to watch other artists do their thing, own their stage, and speak their language to their dedicated fanbases – and this was especially true for the ‘Reputation’ tour”.
Five year olds really do love Taylor Swift though. That is undeniable.
