There’s so much confusion about Taylor Swift’s squad, but she has a squad. Very famous girl squad. Squad. Squad. She is everywhere and people love her. I am done with Taylor Swift. >> Drama in T Swift Squad has fans wondering if the group is totally breaking up for good. Get a good lawyer. >> The year was 2014.
Taylor Swift was still plagued with the reputation that she goes through men faster than a Pink Panther song. My name’s Pink and I’m really glad to meet you. >> Feminism was officially a trend in the mainstream media and Meredith Gray was starting to lose her kittenish ways. The writing was on the wall. It was time for Taylor to form a legion of female friends and give it the most millennial name to ever exist.
#girl Squad. For a couple of years, the Squad was an elite club that ported all millennial IT girls. It was the 2015 equivalent of the cast of Charlie XCX’s 360 music video, except instead of them all being so Julia, they were also Carly Clauss. But don’t get it twisted, this was not a bunch of popular girls saying, “You can’t sit with us.
” This was a carefully curated, all-inclusive commune of female friendship. Taylor’s Girl Squad was like the female version of the Marvel Avengers, except instead of being comprised of superheroes, it was super models. However, as time went on, the group went from being # squad goals to # not squad goals.
Reputations were damaged. Members defected. The squad was left without a pulse. So, what happened? and where are they all now? But first, how was the squad formed? Well, there were only two rules to be invited into Taylor Swift’s girl squad. Be female and be famous. Oh, and there was some small fine print about being ineligible if your legal name was K. Hudson.
So, who exactly was in this squad? The Taylor Swift wiki provides quite a liberal list of members. However, some are a tad questionable. Nicki Minaj, >> what? >> Jennifer Lawrence. >> What do you mean? What do you What do you mean? >> Serena Williams. These women were never in the squad.
Speaking of, the wiki also listed men, Ed Sharon, Jack Antinoff, Sha Menddees. >> Why would a man be there? Why would a man be there? No, it’s actually pissing me off. >> Oh my god, it pisses me off. Why would a man be there? Why do you want to be there? >> What part of girl squad does the wiki not understand? Hannah Montana would clock them hard.
>> How many girls do we got out there tonight? >> Not you. I see you. You’re not a girl. >> The squad members can be clustered into three main categories. Firstly, Taylor’s OG personal nonfamous friends. This includes Abigail Anderson, her number one best friend. She was name dropped in 15.
She was in the picture to burn music video was featured in the Miss Americana documentary. Abigail is an actual friend. It also includes Ashley Aignon, a stylist that Taylor met through their mutual friend Emma Stone back in 2008. These friends kept Taylor grounded and probably kept her up to date on how much a banana costs at the supermarket.
> What could it cost? $10? >> You’ve never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you? >> I don’t have time for this. Secondly, there was her famous yet long-term friends. Taylor maintains long-term friendships with Emma Stone and Haley Williams, but it feels incorrect to label them as squad members considering they were barely seen with the group.
So, this category pretty much only includes >> the two became friends during the Disney Channel Golden Age. Taylor pops up a lot in my 1h hour video covering all of the drama within the Disney Channel royal family, but the cliffnotes are, “Taylor and Selena became close when they were both dating Joe and Nick Jonas, respectively.
” >> How did you guys meet? >> Oh, Taylor and I dated the Jonas Brothers. >> As we all know, Joe Jonas infamously broke up with Taylor Swift over the phone. And interestingly, Selena, who was still in the Jonas Brothers camp at the time, said something shady about Taylor putting her ex-boyfriends on blast in her music.
Regardless, Selena and Taylor kept a close relationship after both joined the Jonas Brothers ex-girlfriend’s club, which famously got Selena’s exBFF, Demi Lovado, mad. We became best friends, bonded over the breakup as girls do, and then we I don’t know, then we just stuck around for all the ups and downs. >> There are countless interviews and social media posts from both calling each other besties, had several public hangouts, and were each other’s dates to award shows.
>> She and I like to say the best thing we got out of those relationships was each other. >> Selena Gomez was quite a proud Squad member. She even wrote a song about the girl squad, Me and My Girls, released in 2015. The final category was Taylor’s famous yet quickly match recruited friends. >> How do you choose your friends? I choose my friends based on uh people that you initially click with.
>> Whether they cross paths at industry events, DM’d each other on social media, or met through a mutual friend, Taylor was an incredibly social butterfly around 2013 and built up the rest of her girl squad. Don’t I met on Twitter. Kings of Leyon invited her to one of their concerts. New York Golden Globes Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
>> Artists like Haim and Ellie Golden were guests at the 1989 tour. And it felt like Taylor had a casting couch backstage at her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show performances. Carly Clauss, Caro Deivine, Lily Aldridge, Gigi Hadid, and Martha Hunt. This recruiting vibe is backed up by Taylor saying that when she was introduced to Lily Albridge backstage, she said, “You, my friend, now >> and one of my best friends is performing during a Taylor Swift, so it’s going to be really fun, and I’m so excited I get to open this part.”
>> By this point, Taylor’s friendship circle was complete. From the outset, I need to say that Taylor’s friendships were real. She actually cared about these people, would go on trips together, and kept intimate details offline. However, this is not a typical friend group that has sleepovers and goes to bottomless brunch.
This was a very curated public spectacle. Fourth of July parties, award show hangouts, birthday parties, and even a music video. >> Squad. Squad. >> Two things can be right at the same time. Taylor’s friendships were real and personal, but the girl squad also became a commodity. The girl squad was so emblematic of the mid2010s and it felt like the biggest thing in the world.
It was even credited as popularizing the term squad goals. So why was everything so public? Long story short, branding. Before 2014, Taylor’s public image was dominated by her relationships with men. >> You’re going to walk home with more than maybe just a trophy tonight. I think lots of men. >> I’m not going to walk home with any men tonight.
I’m going to I’m going to go hang out with my friends and then I go home to the cats. >> They would write a song about your ass. If you forget to open up the car door, Car Door will be the number one single next month. >> The media called her boy obsessed and made fun of her for writing songs about her exes.
Taylor would try to be in on the joke as a way to take control of a narrative, but it did not fix the situation at all. I like writing songs about douchebags who cheat on me, but I’m not going to say that in my monologue. >> Taylor mentioned in her Billboard Women of the Year speech that 1989 was a reaction to critics saying that she writes too many breakup songs.
>> They’re saying I’m dating too much in my 20s. Okay, I’ll stop. Now they’re saying my album Red is filled with too many breakup songs. Okay. Um, okay. I’ll make one about moving to New York and deciding that really my life is more fun with just my friends. >> Even though outside of Welcome to New York, none of the album is about that.
This kind of implies that Taylor’s public outings played a bigger role in her rebrand than the music she released. Taylor’s girl squad was her opportunity to shed her boy obsessed image while also pushing her to the epicenter of pop culture. To have a cluster of high-profile women hanging out together and the media calls it Taylor’s girl squad, you know you have become the most famous person in the world.
In a Vogue interview in 2015, Taylor mentioned that devoting this much time to her female friendship started out as a reaction to her portrayal in the media. She said, “I was really irritated by the whole serial data play that people tried to make about me.” So, the branding of Taylor’s friendships was pushed hard.
Taylor and Carly Clauss’s relationship, especially before meeting, Taylor mentioned in a magazine that she wanted to bake cookies with Carly, and Carly responded with, “Your kitchen or mine.” But they did not properly meet until the 2013 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. They did a trip to Big Su together, were spotted kissing at a 1975 concert, and Carly even had her own room in Taylor’s apartment.
Yes, it sounds the way that it sounds, but we are not going to get into it in this video. >> Clap if you think that we’re trying to speak o to hear each other. >> So, clap if you think that we’re kissing. >> Their friendship was a lot more public. They even shared a Vogue cover in 2015. Usually, a celebrity has something to promote when they land the cover of a magazine, but their cover spread was less vogue and more vague.
Taylor was still in the midst of her 1989 era, and Carly had Carly’s cookies, but the article was incredibly focused on their friendship. This is a clear display of how Taylor commodified her friendships. >> What did you want fans and Vogue readers to take away from your cover? You know, for me, what’s really significant about this cover is the fact that it’s all about power friendships.
You know, Taylor and I are really close. >> Their article talks about how they met, their trip to Big Su, and also how Taylor’s apartment is full of polaroids with all of her other friends. This was not a 1989 promotional piece. If it was, there would be information about her songwriting and inspirations. Taylor’s team and Vogue had to agree on an angle and they decided on the message that Taylor Swift is an amazing person to be friends with.
Emphasized by the quote, “Swift is by all accounts an amazing person to be friends with.” >> I’m obsessed with like being in the same place as my friends and when we all get together and it happens more than you think. Like we’re always traveling. We’re always in different places, but it’s so weird how often we’re in the same place at the same time.
It’s like meant to be. It’s like faded that we hang out all the time. >> Outside of all of the publicity, Taylor really was a great friend. She threw a private birthday party for Gigi Hadid, sent flowers to Lord, and gave her career advice, and as we already know, gave Carly Clauss a free place to sleep. You might be wondering right now, with everything that was being pushed in our faces about this squad, what stopped the world from seeing them all as off-putting? Well, what is the difference between the plastics and the
Spice Girls? Feminism. >> Having a good group of girls, the best thing ever. Girls are always against each other, but that’s not true. It’s okay to be nice. It’s like your superhero team. >> Mentioned at the very beginning of this video, feminism was finally something that was socially acceptable to identify with.
So, Taylor made sure to drive home the message that the squad supported, uplifted, and empowered each other. It’s interesting how feminism has come up in conversations so much more in the last year. It’s amazing to see. >> And who do we have to thank for this feminist girl squad? Lena Dunham. I am trying to not mansplain feminism today, but I think it’s important to quickly talk about how society viewed feminism in the 2000s.
Feminism was not talked about as empowering women, but rather hating men. Before becoming friends with Lena, Taylor was not a self-proclaimed feminist. I mean, the lyrics to Better Than Revenge were not always, “He was him off to the flame she was holding the matches.” It was, “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress.
” Taylor would also skirt around feminism in interviews. In 2012, when she was asked whether she was a feminist, Taylor answered, “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have.” However, after Lena sent Taylor a DM asking to be her friend, the patriarchal blindfold was lifted from her eyes. >> I was never really taught the definition of feminism when I was a little girl, and I wish I had been.
>> Taylor told the Guardian, “Becoming friends with Lena without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so.
” So Taylor made her own real life version of the friend group in girls, even including the actress that played Hannah. Except Taylor is the Hannah of this friend group. But anyway, now that Taylor and feminism are synonyms, Taylor was a supporter for all woman, except for someone whose name rhymes with Katy Kerry.
Taylor’s girls attitude even extended to the ones that publicly criticized her like Lord. In 2013, Lord said, “Taylor Swift is so flawless and so unattainable, and I don’t think it’s breeding anything good in young girls.” Taylor could have easily fired back, but this would have not fit with the image that she was trying to present.
So, she took a page from Selena Gomez’s book and killed her with kindness. Taylor sent Lord flowers after one of her performances, invited her out to Shake Shack, hung out in Malibu, and even did a cooking class together. This sent a clear message. Taylor does not get catty with other women. She is all about sisterhood.
In 2015, Taylor told Vanity Fair, “We even have girls in our group who have dated the same people. It’s almost like the sisterhood has such a higher place on the list of priorities for us. It’s so much more important than some guy that it didn’t work out with. This was likely referencing Gigi Hadid dating Taylor’s ex, Joe Jonas.
And to her credit, she was telling the truth because she is still incredibly close with Gigi in 2025. Taylor went on to say, “When you’ve got this group of girls who need each other as much as we need each other, in this climate, when it’s so hard for women to be understood and portrayed the right way in the media, now more than ever, we need to be good and kind to each other and not judge each other.
And just because you have the same taste in men, we don’t hold that against each other.” For the most part, the girl squad existed on social media and in the tabloids. But this all changed on May 17, 2015 when Taylor released the music video for Bad Blood. If you’ve been watching my videos for a while, you would know that Bad Blood was a song written about Katy Perry after Taylor felt that she was trying to destroy her career after she stole three tour backup dancers from her.
>> Okay. Remember when I was telling you that they that um Katie reportedly stole Taylor’s background dancers? >> Okay. Oh, you do remember that. >> Thanks for watching. >> The dancers disclosed that they felt like Katie was family while Taylor was strictly business. The dancers also talked about not feeling challenged working on the Red Tour.
So Katie gave them a better opportunity to, you know, do what they do, dance. But regardless, Taylor felt incredibly betrayed, so she put pen to paper. So, back to the music video. It follows Taylor Swift as a secret agent that gets double crossed by her partner in crime, played by her long-term best friend, Selena Gomez in a bob that even Anna Winthor would be jealous of.
The rest of the video follows Taylor training to fight face to face again with Selena with a little help from her girl squad. I remember they released a bunch of movie posters with all of the cameos to promote the music video before its release. It felt like we were going to get a bunch of dialogue, fleshed out plot, several action scenes, but instead it was just a quasi movie trailer with four second cameos from each celebrity with their character’s name.
Some of the names were fantastic. Arson, Mother Chucker, the Crimson Curse, and then there was Slay Z. O, but don’t get me wrong, this was a fantastic music video. It is high budget. It is entertaining. It is directed by Joseph Khn, which is very apparent since it feels like it is in the same universe as the Britney Spears toxic music video.
This video is what we call brand synergy. Not only did the highbudget visuals and celebrity cameos help promote the song as a single, but it also promoted Taylor’s real life girl squad, cementing it in her art rather than just on social media. Now, the public did not just see the girl squad as cool because they were a bunch of tens in an ocean of fives, but because they were all baddies that were skilled with knives and bazookas.
One of the messages of the music video was definitely that women are just as badass as men. And it’s even cooler when they work together as a team, just like the real life girl squad. >> There are some really powerful women in this um cast ensemble. And I think that that’s really cool. kind of showcases us, you know, powerful and in in control, which I think is really cool.
>> The video definitely blurred the line of the girl squad because a lot were just cameos, not actual members. Jessica Alba, Marissa Hagate, Cindy Crawford, and Zenaia were not Taylor’s real life friends. They just met the assignment about what the music video was about. The music video was massive.
It broke the YouTube record for most views for a music video in the first 24 hours with 20.1 million views. It also hit 100 million views in only 4 days. It was so popular that it even got its own parody on Saturday Night Live. [Music] >> At the 2015 VMAs, which I have made a video on, Bad Blood was nominated eight times.
Taylor opened the show alongside Nicki Minaj and she even walked the red carpet with her girl squad specifically Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt, Haley Steinfeld, Cara Deivine, Selena Gomez, Sarai McNeel, Marishka Hagate, Lily Oridge, and Karly Clauss. This was where we found out that none of the women were paid for taking time out of their schedules to film.
>> We’re all in it. The fact that they all made time in their schedules to come do a music video for free. The perk of friendship. It is free. Very, very free. I hate to spoil the outcome of the 2015 VMAs because my video on it is really iconic, but Bad Blood won video of the year and the girl squad joined Taylor up on stage to accept the award.
There’s been a lot of discussion about this video and what it means, but I’m just happy that in 2015, we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers. Thank you so much. >> This was a career high for the girl squad. It’s like when your friend group makes a video in someone’s backyard, then posts it on YouTube, and everybody in school talked about how cool it was.
For a couple of years, the squad was goals. It was the 2010 version of Andy Warhol Superstars. In the 1960s and 70s, Andy Warhol’s New York City click was comprised of musicians, models, and socialites that would all hang out together, appear in Andy’s films, and accompany him to public events. Sound familiar? Musicians, models, and socialites hanging out together, appearing in music videos, and accompanying each other to public events.
However, not everybody viewed this squad as iconic. While America loves to see the rise of successful women, they are even more obsessed with their destruction. Taylor herself claimed in 2019 that the main criticism was taking too many photos with her friends. >> Now, it’s that I’m showing you too many pictures of me with my friends.
Okay, I can stop doing that, too. >> But it was not that simple. Y’all’s speeches were long as >> Oh my god. [Applause] Long as hell. Jeez. >> There were a lot of lowbrow jokes about the squad actually being a cult. Even Saturday Night Live made a skit about it. >> In 2015, Taylor Swift created her squad. By the end of her tour, the entire world had joined.
[Music] What do they do all day? >> I think she invites them on stage and they like walk around for a minute or something and then what? That’s it. >> While the intention of the squad was to be a congregation of feminists, some viewed it as a group of mean girls. Outside of the general insecurities people feel when they see pretty girls not inviting you to their table.
Bad blood was arguably a group of woman bullying Katy Perry. >> You’re throwing shade. >> There’s definitely rumors out there that this video is kind of geared, you know, directed towards Katy Perry. Is there any indication of that when you’re shooting it or >> I had no idea. >> Taylor kind of had Liz Lemon itis.
For those that have not seen 30 Rock, there was an episode where Liz Lemon had her high school reunion. So recounts memories of being bullied by her cohort. However, after turning up to the reunion, she is enlightened to the fact that she was actually the bully. >> What are you talking about? I was a nerd. You were a bully.
>> While Katie was the villain in Taylor’s story, making her real life friends feature in a music video where they support Taylor and fight the Katy Perry character is kind of bullying. No, >> I do believe as a feminist is that in order for us to have gender equality, we have to stop making it a girl fight and we we have to stop being so interested in seeing girls try to tear each other down.
It has to be more about cheering each other on. >> This idea was not helped by Taylor releasing her entire catalog onto Spotify the day that Katie Perry dropped her album Witness. This news was broken to Katie while she was cut off from the outside world doing a 4day big brother-esque live stream. To learn more, go watch my video on it. >> I’ve had not just one person bully me or one person hold me down or, you know, met one troll.
All I need to say to her is I love her and God bless her on her journey and that’s it. >> So, her releasing her back catalog of music on streaming services the same day your album >> didn’t bother you. >> I don’t know. I could only do me. or the allegedly leaked text between Taylor and Camila Cabo making fun of Katie’s new haircut.
I personally don’t think that these texts are real, but they were released the same time as leaked text messages between her and Michael Clifford from 5 Seconds of Summer. She apparently screenshotted her text messages and the hacker found them in her iCloud. Camila never came out and said that all of these texts were fake, which would have been really easy to do if they were, but who knows? It is interesting that Taylor allegedly texted a little scissor called karma.
>> Karma’s real. >> Demi Lovato agreed that Bad Blood was bullying Katy Perry, saying, “I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that’s not woman’s empowerment. We all do things that aren’t, but I have to ask myself, am I content with calling myself a feminist?” Yes, because I speak out.
Troy and Bellisario from Pretty Little Lies also said, “I’m so appalled by what I consider to be her false feminism. It seems like she’s this person who’s like sisterhood and then she does nothing but tear down the women that were once her friends.” This brings up another question that critics had.
Was the squad promoting feminism or was it promoting feminism Taylor’s version? You got to admit I ate with that line. Arguably, Taylor had a very individualist, apolitical perspective on feminism. It seemed like she only cared about issues that directly affected her or only made feminism a talking point when it suited her.
>> You know what, Taylor Swift, you stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son. >> Taylor responded swiftly, telling Vanity Fair, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. >> I love you and there’s a special place in hell for you. What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift.
>> Taylor wrote, quote, “Hey, Jenny in Georgia 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hardworking women by defining this horseshit as funny?” >> The man is a great example of this. While her point is true that she would achieve things faster and easier if she were a man, the song lacks nuance and disregards her privileges.
She came from a wealthy family. Her parents supported her ambitions from a young age. She’s a beautiful woman. These are all things that helped her success that not every other woman has. Another example was her small feud with Nicki Minaj. Back in 2015, when Nicki was disappointed that Anaconda was not being nominated for video of the year at the VMAs, she tweeted, “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for video of the year.
” Taylor saw this and responded, “Nicki Minaj, I’ve done nothing but love and support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.” Nicki responded, “Huh? >> What? >> You must not be reading my tweet. Didn’t say a word about you. I love you just as much, but you should speak on this.
” Katy Perry then entered the chat by tweeting, “Finding it ironic to parade the pit woman against each other argument as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the takedown of a woman.” Camille Bell, the woman that Taylor sings about in better than revenge, then responded to Katie’s tweet by saying, “Couldn’t have said it better.
” Ultimately, Taylor apologized to Nikki by saying, “I thought I was being called out. I missed the point. I misunderstood. Then misspoke. I’m sorry.” >> And she apologized. She said, “You know, look, I didn’t understand the big picture of what you were saying, but now I get it.” >> Taylor’s use of feminism sometimes lacked consideration of the intersection with race, sexuality, cultural, and other socioeconomic factors.
Looking at this group, you could see that this was clear. I mean, she was introduced to feminism by Lena Dunham, someone that encountered the same criticisms creating a show called Girls, representing the experiences of young women in New York City, an incredibly diverse city, with an all-white cast. But it is also important to note that Taylor also helped to make progress on several feminist issues, in particular, sexual assault.
In 2013, a radio presenter groped Taylor during a meet and greet. Taylor complained and it resulted in the guy losing his job. It was literally photographed. Yet, the loser decided to sue Taylor for defamation, claiming $3 million in damages. Taylor counters sued for a symbolic $1 and she won. As a result, Taylor was named a silence breaker in Time magazine alongside other women that had spoken up against sexual harassment and assault.
Another criticism of the girl squad was that it was pretty much one dress size and one skin tone. At one point, Lena Dunham was the diversity hire. In fact, after attending one of the 1989 concerts with other squad members, she said the experience made her feel chubby. And so, I wondered, why did the squad consist of so many models? Well, in Taylor’s own words, never being popular as a kid was always an insecurity.
Even as an adult, I still have reoccurring flashbacks of sitting at lunch tables alone or hiding in a bathroom store or trying to make a new friend and being laughed at by insecurities. >> It seemed like Taylor wanted to be friends with the girls that stereotypically looked like the ones that excluded her back in high school and flipped the narrative that this time it’s all about sisterhood, not about clickiness.
Except not everybody took that interpretation. Demi Lovado said, “I don’t see anybody in any sort of squad that has a normal body. It’s kind of this false image of what people should look like and what they should be like, and it’s not real.” Rowan Blanchard said, “Feminism and friendship are supposed to be inclusive, and most of these squads are strictly exclusive.
Squad goals can polarize anyone who is not white, thin, tall, and always happy.” While there were some exceptions, Taylor’s girl squad was majority white and thin. The aim of the girl squad was to be inspirational, but also to be aspirational. >> Anna went said about it. She said, “Taylor Swift and Carly Claus have forged the kind of careers and the kind of friendship that people dream about.
” >> But it is hard to achieve this when a majority of the female population do not see themselves represented. Taylor originally built her brand as the relatable girl next door that was not like the other girls that wear short skirts because she wears t-shirts. >> Why are you cancelling? Taylor Swift invites her fans to her house.
>> Well, that’s cuz Taylor Swift is weird. Taylor’s fans saw her almost like a best friend, but when she started hanging out with models and it girls, it kind of felt like Taylor was ditching her friends to hang out with the popular girls. Taylor did acknowledge this criticism in 2019, mentioning that she did not realize that people might have had the same insecurities seeing the girl squad that she did when she saw her school’s popular girls.
The exclusivity of the squad also reinforced what was cool. which appeared to be beautiful, thin, and white. Even if people were not remotely interested in being invited into the girl squad, it still set the tone for what was trendy and popular. So, it was easy for people to feel insecure about not having desired physical features or body type.
>> Taylor Swift made girl squads really big this year. Who was in your girl squad? Um, well, I did see her in her girl squad. Unfortunately, I’m not tall enough or cool enough to be in it. Kendall Jenner is in the squad. Selena Gomez is in it. Guess who’s not in it? >> This gal right here. >> Why did they not make the cut? >> I don’t know, James.
You got to ask yourself that. >> This even extended to Taylor herself, who admitted in 2020 to having body image issues and restricted her food intake during the girl squad era. The exclusivity criticism of the girl squad was also not helped by Khloe Grace Morrett saying that she was invited to join but declined because it promoted exclusivity.
She said, “I agree with having a good core group of friends, but the issue I have with squads is that it creates exclusivity. I was never included in those things when I was a kid. I was the weird one that chose to do movies. So now I go out of my way to be nice to people and make them feel included.” The exclusivity of the squad can also be seen with the addition of Camila Cabo.
Camila always noted Taylor as one of her biggest inspirations and they started hanging out in 2015 going out for dinners and celebrating Christmas and Halloween together. While this felt like a cute big little sister relationship, this all happened while Cama was still in Fifth Harmony. Why weren’t the other four girls invited? >> Although my question is where were the other five age girls? I do not think that they were owed a placement in the girl squad just because Camila was friends with Taylor, but from an optics perspective, it doesn’t look like an
inclusive girl squad when Cama’s bandmates aren’t on the list. >> You okay, we >> it took a little interrogation. >> You could also tell that the girls were annoyed every time Camila would bring up Taylor in interviews. The >> artist that inspired me to songwrite was Taylor Swift. I listened to so many of her lyrics and they connected with me so much and I just love the idea of, you know, writing music to be a soundtrack for your life for you to listen to when you’re older about certain experiences.
So, she inspired me to songwrite. >> Taylor, my friend Taylor Swift, crazy. She’s really great. She’s a really, really cool friend. >> Critics also mentioned that the squad lacked the nuance of real friendship. Friendship is not always 100% positive. Sometimes there is the feelings of jealousy and frustration.
Sometimes friends fight and get into miscommunications. Lena Dunham actually summarized that perfectly in an episode of Girls where Hannah and Jessa are not on talking terms and Adam was sick of hearing about all the drama. In a rage, he tells just how much Hannah hates her and she simply responds with >> welcome to having a friend.
>> Yet Taylor did interviews saying that there was no fighting. which is quite hard to believe when most of these people are competing for the same jobs, have dated the same people, or maybe just aren’t each other’s cup of tea. Are we seriously meant to believe that everybody got along for years with no tension? Did Gigi Hadid really have no feelings towards Selena Gomez dating the weekend only a couple months after breaking up with her younger sister, Bella Hadid? At the same time, you can’t fault Taylor for saying that everything
was sunshines and rainbows. It would be weird for her to say, “Yeah, everybody is actually really catty behind the scenes, but that’s what real friendship is like.” Regardless, it made the group look manufactured and fake. The true reason for the demise of the Girl Squad came from the demise of Taylor’s reputation.
Taylor was at an all-time career high in 2015. Beyonce and Kim Kardashian have both lost their crowns. [Applause] cuz it’s all about Taylor Swift. >> She received massive chart success from 1989 and her public image had shifted away from being a serial data to being a feminist. But tall Poppy Syndrome took effect and people found any reason to cut her down.
Scream Queens made fun of Swift Miss where Taylor handwrapped Christmas presents for her fans. >> Drive to Connecticut and bring Leighton some Christmas presents. There’s this girl named Susan who’s always posting sad videos of herself online. I guess we’re just going to have to drive to Susan’s house and deliver some Chaneline presents in person.
>> Hi, Susan. >> Even Wendy Williams tried to come for her neck. >> I am done with Taylor Swift. >> Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, her friend Gigi Hadid had a denim themed 24th birthday party this week. Everybody’s supposed to wear what? >> Denim. >> That’s right. Friend of the show, Ashley Graham showed up in her denim.
Bella Hadid showed up with her denim. Haley Steinfeld tried to pull something together in her denim. I don’t know what. And here comes Taylor Swift looking like this. [Applause] >> Clap if you’re with me. Outside of the criticisms that I’ve already mentioned, she also received backlash for her relationships with Calvin Harris and Tom Hson, but it was Kanye West and Kim Kardashian that pulled the gameending move to Taylor’s Jenga reputation.
Taylor and Kanye started off on the wrong foot ever since the 2009 VMAs, which I have made a separate video on. Taylor Swift won the award for best female video. However, Kanye disagreed. He stormed up on stage, grabbed her mic, and declared that >> Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. >> Taylor then performed her song Innocent at the 2010 VMAs, which duh, I have also made a video on.
The song was clearly about Kanye West. Over time, they were both able to move past the incident and reconcile. Taylor even introduced Kanye with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs. Yes, I’ve also made a video on that one. I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish, but Kanye West has had one of the greatest careers of all time.
>> Fast forward to 2016, Kanye released his song Famous, which included the infamous lyric, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why, I made that famous. Taylor publicly denounced the lyrics, claiming that she never approved them. once again positioning herself as someone being unfairly victimized by Kanye.
>> There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there.
And that will be the greatest feeling in the world. >> Thank you for this moment. >> The rapper posted a string of 15 messages early Friday morning. Here are the highlights. I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her is an endearing term in hip hop. Like the word I’m not even going to take credit for the idea.
It’s actually something Taylor came up with. She was having dinner with one of our friends and she told him, “I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous.” Kim Kardashian then escalated the feud by releasing edited clips of a phone call between Kanye and Taylor, seemingly showing Taylor approving of the famous lyrics.
And when I say edited, I mean reality TV show level edited. >> I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. >> Unlike this close to overexposure, >> I think this is a really cool thing to have. I know it’s like a compliment to my show and I really appreciate you telling me about it. That’s really nice. >> And you know, if people ask me about it, I’ll I think it would be great for me to be like, “Well, she called me and told me the line before it came out.
” Like, jokes on you guys. We’re fine. >> Kim clipped out the parts of the conversation that justified Taylor’s position that she did not want any demeaning words to be used to describe her >> because it has a very controversial line at the beginning of the song about you. What does it say? >> Okay, it’s going to go Eminem a little bit.
So, can you brace yourself for a second? >> Yeah. >> Wait a second. You sound sad. >> Well, is it going to be mean? >> No, I don’t think it’s mean. >> Okay, then let then then let me hear it. >> I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex. >> That’s not mean. Oh my god, the buildup you gave it. I thought it was going to be like that.
you the dumb like but it’s not um so I don’t know you know the thing about me is like um anything that I do becomes like a feminist think piece that’s the only thing about that line is that it’s like going to it’s just the feminists are going to come out but I mean you don’t give a >> however since the public only saw the editor clips the internet erupted in a hashtag Taylor Swift’s overp party accusing Taylor of being manipul ipulative and flooded her comment sections with snake emojis.
This caused Taylor to disappear from the public eye for an entire year. The public pretty much read Taylor her Miranda because everything that she said or did could be used against her. As a result, Taylor’s girl squad that thrived on paparazzi photo ops and social media posts vanished. At the same time, lines were drawn in the sand.
you are either team Taylor or team Kim and Kanye. This caused some of the squad to revoke their membership. Zenaia, who was not necessarily Taylor’s friend, yet still made an appearance in the Bad Blood music video, liked tweets that said that she was never friends with Taylor. >> Taylor who? >> Furthermore, Kendall Jenner was Kim Kardashian’s sister.
So, of course, she was going to pick family over a friend, especially when your family is your bread and butter. Scooter Brawn was managing Kanye West at the time, which would have also caused tension with Karly Clauss that was also managed by Scooter during this period. Taylor and Kari’s friendship would have also been further strained when she went out for dinner with Katy Perry in 2018 and when Scooter Brawn bought Taylor’s Master Recordings in 2019.
There were still avid supporters of Taylor during this time like Selena Gomez, who landed in hot water after tweeting, “There are more important things to talk about. Why can’t people use their voice for something that matters? This led to Twitter user Praise Jibus to respond, “Good question. Why haven’t you or Taylor not said a thing about # BLM or police brutality?” Selena then replied saying, “Oh, lol.
So that means if I hashtag something, I save lives. No, I couldn’t give two about sides. You don’t know what I do.” She then deleted this tweet and went on a brief social media break. If you want to learn more about every single social media break that Selena Gomez has ever taken, watch this video on it.
Regardless of which side each member chose, it became very apparent that everybody wanted to distance themselves from the squad brand. Like I said earlier, Zenaia liked some tweets saying that she was never in the squad. And although Haley Steinfeld had a strong relationship with Taylor, she was quoted in 2016 saying, “I think people think we spent a lot more time together than we actually do.
” Even though previously she had mentioned that she maintained a WhatsApp group chat with Taylor, Gigi Hadid, Cara Deivine, Selena Gomez, and Carly Clauss. Selena Gomez also later said, “I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities. My only friend in the industry really is Taylor. So, I remember feeling like I didn’t belong.
Also, remember when Lord made that infamous quote where she compared her friendship to Taylor as someone with an autoimmune disease? Yeah. Even though these statements were not direct jabs at the girl squad, it went against the United Sisterhood narrative that was crafted. So, in a sense, this was the most PR way of them saying what Taylor once said.
I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative. >> Uh, I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative. >> Some members may have also felt that the squad brand diminished their own personal accomplishments. >> She’s got her girl army hypnotized to think that she’s the bee’s knees. You know, from the Carel Vivves and the Kendall Kardashians and all them.
You know what I’m saying? >> Cara Deivine was an incredibly successful model, actress, and activist. However, publications would introduce her as a squad member before later listing her other accomplishments. This was in no way Taylor’s fault, but this could have been a reason for why some members distance themselves as a way to gain better control of their own narrative.
So, what does the girl squad look like now? In 2025, Taylor is more successful than she has ever been, but her friendship circle is a lot smaller. Taylor’s been keeping a low profile, but there hasn’t been a big fallout. The source said she was stung by claims her squad was elitist and prefers to spend time with close friends one-on-one at the moment.
She still hangs out with Selena, Gigi Hadid, and the Heim sisters, and has bonded with newer friends like Blake Lively, Sabrina Carpenter, and Gracie Abrams. It is possible that Taylor has just as many female friends as she did back in the Girl Squad days, but now she is more careful to not make a public spectacle about it.
There are rare sightings of the current girl squad. The most recent example was after her breakup with Joe Orwin or at the 20125 Super Bowl where she was booed. [Music] But Taylor mainly keeps her squad meetups offline. There will be birthdays, engagements, and other events where the group comes together. except now we will not get to see it because people like me will make an entire video on it and people like you will watch it.
Retrospectively, while there were some valid criticisms made, I am left with the question of whether society will ever fully accept a famous group of female friends. If Taylor took all of the criticism on board, like increasing the diversity and adding some averagel looking people into the mix, I still feel like people would find an issue with it.
And it feels like it’s only subject when it comes to women. If all of the Avenger actors hung out together outside of work, would society find ways to call them damaging? I don’t think so, even though they are all famous, white, wealthy, and successful. Or how about the 1960s edition of the rat pack? It was celebrated. It wasn’t viewed as harmful.
Could most of the girl squad criticism just be an overreaction or a reflection of internal misogyny? What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Thank you guys so much for watching this video. If you’d like to continue supporting the making of these videos, consider joining my channel membership.
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They were all absolute hot messes. Links in the description. Don’t forget to leave a like and subscribe. And heck, why not share with your friends? and I’ll see you in the next one. See you. [Music]
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