On Thursday, Taylor Swift received an apology from Billboard for using an unapproved video of her in a nude wax figure that was shared on social media.
Over the past few months, Billboard has been revealing their list of the greatest pop stars of the twenty-first century. Swift was ranked No. 2 by the publication on Wednesday, and they accompanied the news with an Instagram video that dissected her career.
The video included a snippet of Swift in the nude from the music video for the 2016 song “Famous,” which was made by rapper Ye. Numerous wax sculptures of nude celebrities, including Swift, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, and others, are featured in the music video.
During a segment of its film when a narrator describes Swift’s conflict with Ye and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, Billboard showed the tape.
Billboard said in a statement posted on its social media pages, “We sincerely apologize to Taylor Swift and all of our readers and viewers that in a video celebrating Swift’s accomplishments, we included a clip that falsely depicted her.” We really apologize for the damage this blunder created and have taken the footage out of our video.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by Swift or Billboard representatives.
Swift previously referred to the well-known film as vengeance porn in a 2019 Tumblr post. Swifties, her fan base, quickly criticized Billboard’s video and started a campaign to demand an apology from the company for using the film.
On Wednesday night, fans posted critical comments about the publication on X, making the hashtag #BillboardIsOverParty surge.
The outlet’s unapproved naked portrayal of her in a video honoring her achievements and labor was deemed offensive by many. However, the publication’s choice to rank Swift as the second-best pop performer on its list also drew some of the criticism expressed under the hashtag.
On December 3, Billboard is anticipated to reveal its top choice for the greatest pop star of the twenty-first century.
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