Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes hugged. Then the backlash. Here's what it says about us.
Brittany Mahomes has spent the end of summer under fire for her potential political positions.
The businesswoman and wife to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes ignited backlash when she seemingly liked an Instagram post by former President Donald Trump last month. Brittany Mahomes, who allegedly unliked the post at a later date, appeared to show her support on Instagram for Trump's “2024 GOP Platform." The post called for sealing the border, keeping "men out of women's sports" and not funding schools that teach critical race theory.
Now, her popstar BFF Taylor Swift is catching heat, too. Since Swift started publicly dating Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes' husband's close friend and Chiefs teammate, last summer, the two women have become fast friends.
They've been photographed out to dinner, at football games and now, at the U.S. Open, where the pair embraced as they shared a double date during the men's singles final at the annual tennis tournament over the weekend.
Taylor Swift hasn't either candidate. Why do we care who she votes for?
But the music industry heavyweight has angered critics who say she's avoided picking sides in the 2024 presidential election while seemingly still supporting her friend.
Although Swift endorsed the 2020 Democratic nominee President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during that election cycle, she hasn't made a public statement about her vote this time around. And neither has Brittany Mahomes, but some have taken the alleged liking of Trump's post to be an endorsement.
The internet's divided. Some think Swift is complicit in supporting the politics and policies of former President Trump — and the hug was a signal to the conservative right. Others believe she's a sign of how more of us should be: that we can be friends with people even if they share differing viewpoints.
So why do we care about one hug, and how did these partners in crime become partners in controversy? And even if they are on opposite sides of the political aisle, can they still be friends? Experts are weighing in.
Swift has been largely apolitical during two-decade career
During her career, Swift has publicly endorsed three candidates: 2018 Tennessee senate candidate Phil Bredesen, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper in his 2018 re-election bid to Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, and Biden in the 2020 race for president.
Why do we want Swift, a largely apolitical pop star, to share her personal stances and why are we upset about her hug? According to Emerson College professor Kristin Lieb, it's a lack of boundaries between fans and celebrities.
"Knowing who someone is voting for is pretty personal, that's why we have to draw the curtains in the voting booth, or increasingly, seal our votes in envelopes and mail them in," Lieb said, adding that "in general, people in the United States are advised not to talk about politics or religion at work or when we don't know people well, but stars are somehow expected to provide on-demand answers to questions about their private lives as demanded by fans."
Aria Halliday, a cultural critic and professor at the University of Kentucky, agreed with Lieb, telling USA TODAY that "we don't expect people in our everyday lives to stand outside and tell everyone their business, right?"
Halliday conitnued: "And so we shouldn't expect that of celebrities either."
Taylor Swift experts address why fans want an endorsement
Swift, who is known for celebrating the seasons of her career, has stayed reliably mum in this presidential election. And she hasn't endorsed a candidate although Election Day is less than two months away. But why do Swift fans, known as "Swifties," want her to enter her endorsement era?
Stephanie Burt, a literary critic who teaches a course on Swift at Harvard University, also attributed the craving for Swift to talk about her politics with parasocial relationships, which she described as mutual between Swift and her fans.
"A lot of us would like to see Kamala win, Trump lose, and we think her endorsement would help," Burt told USA TODAY, adding that in parasocial relationships "we want to see our friends endorse our actions and agree with us on anything that matters to us."
Kristin Lieb told USA TODAY that "people relate to her and her persistence and the sort of continuous examination of self that like runs through the song, but that doesn't mean she's inviting you into the dinner party at her house. It might feel like that, but that's strategically constructed."
And while Swift hasn't endorsed a candidate this election cycle, there have been hints at her feelings towards Trump is particular. In August, Trump took to Truth Social and posted several purportedly AI-generated images suggesting that Swift support for his campaign, despite the singer vocalizing disdain for the Republican nominee in the past.
Maybe Swift's next "era" is letting her work — and her past words — speak for itself.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes hugged. Backlash followed.