Last week, Taylor Swift was dancing to her own music at the BMAs while sandwiched between Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello.
A week later, she performs in a hot, humid arena … and her interviewer immediately tells her that she needs to take a shower.
You can see that exchange in the video below. Yikes.
Taylor Swift had just dazzled a crowd of 26,000 at the BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Swansea.
BBC radio deejay Greg James did not sound so impressed.
Speaking to her on camera, he said:
"It"s nice to see you. I think you need to have a shower now."
It was hot and very humid.
Sometimes, when men talk to women about showering, it"s creepy and overtly sexual.
This wasn"t that, thankfully.
But many believed that it was rude.
Taylor, however, doesn"t seem to object.
"I agree," she says.
"And I"m not offended that you said that," she adds.
Well, Maleficent also said that she was not offended, and we all know how that ended.
Taylor explains exactly why she"s write, gesturing to her face and hair.
"There"s a lot going on, and none of it"s good, here."
She still looks great, to be honest.
Fans did not take it as well as Taylor did.
They tweeted their disappointment and their outrage.
"Taylor Swift has her first recorded interview after years of not doing them and she"s told that she needs a shower … "
"I can’t not believe someone had the audacity to tell Taylor Swift to take a shower in her first interview in 2 years.THE NERVE"
Diehard Taylor fans have been sorely missing her during her absence from the spotlight after many listeners and even fans decided to forsake their admiration for her because it was no longer fashionable.
Part of that was from overexposure. Part of that was through some shadiness by Kim Kardashian.
(Of course, as Kim Kardashian"s recent feud with Rhymefest suggests, Kim will go out of her way to destroy anyone who she thinks is a threat to Kanye, even if she isn"t necessarily justified)
Fans are disappointed to see Taylor return to the spotlight to face apparent rudeness from an interviewer.
Greg James joked about the Twitter backlash, tweeting:
"If anyone’s got a video of a cow that gets excited when it sees the Queen, now would be a good time to tweet it."
In other words, he was joking that a harmlessly but viral distraction would be welcome.
However, James also suggests that things are fine between him and Taylor.
When someone tweeted about how James and Taylor go way back, a mourning fan wrote: "Hope you"re right cuz we may have to go another 2 years without another live interview."
James responded:
"She really is right. TS has a great sense of humour and we have known each other for ages and had a good catch up after the interview. It’s all cool."
They really have known each other for years.
"It was hot up there. I almost said we should both go for a shower but after this reaction I’m glad I didn’t! X"
Oh. That self-censorship was definitely the right move.
It is, unfortunately, very natural to fear the worst. It"s also a good and healthy instinct to want to defend someone you admire.
Especially when that person has been besieged by haters who should really know better.
In real life, it"s not super polite to tell someone that they need a shower.
(In general, a good rule is to not comment on something that needs to be changed about someone"s appearance unless they can fix it in five minutes. Food in their teeth? Sure. Bad haircut? Not your business)
But when people know each other, there"s a different dynamic.
If Taylor were angry with Greg James, she"d probably let us all know.
