Taylor Swift fans slam pop culture publication for ableist jabs at singer

A Vulture article published in New York Magazine’s ‘Stupid Issue’ has triggered widespread criticism after Taylor Swift fans accused the piece of making ableist and misogynistic remarks about her hypothetical future children.

The article mocked lyrics from Swift’s album The Life of a Showgirl and included a line that read, 

“It’s not just that the album also features the line ‘Did you girlboss too close to the sun?’ and a startling, detailed account of how she plans to start a neighborhood full of children with inherited CTE with the help of her fiancé’s gigantic football dick.”

The reference to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head impacts in contact sports, was interpreted by many readers as trivialising a serious health issue and spreading misinformation about its causes.

The piece also misinterpreted the song "Father Figure", prompting further criticism from fans who argued that it reflected a dismissive attitude toward Swift’s work.

One widely shared response said, “we’ve reached a point where ‘cultural criticism’ means inventing hypothetical children with neurological diseases just to attack taylor". Another reader added: “What an utterly bizarre and cruel thing to say, making sweeping ableist statements and attacking Taylor Swift’s unborn children”.

A public health professional also weighed in, highlighting the danger of presenting CTE as hereditary, stating, “I am in no way a swiftie but I am a public health professional & aside from the ableism, the suggestion that CTE can be passed from parent to child is dangerous misinformation about a criminally understudied disease & should never have passed review.”

Vulture has deleted the link to the article on X but has not yet issued any response to the growing criticism.