This week, in a not-at-all-surprising move, Michigan rapper turned turgid, soft country also-ran, Kid Rock tweeted something disgusting:
“Taylor Swift wants to be a democrat because she wants to be in movies….period. And it looks like she will suck the door knob off Hollyweird to get there. Oldest move in the book. Good luck girl.”
Taylor Swift wants to be a democrat because she wants to be in movies….period. And it looks like she will suck the door knob off Hollyweird to get there. Oldest move in the book. Good luck girl.
— Kid Rock (@KidRock) August 9, 2019
-Kid Rock
Now, as Spin Magazine was quick to point out, this is the guy who has appeared in a Joe Dirt movie. And we don’t remember a soul asking how many casting couch BJs the “Kid” had to dish out to David Spade in order to land the role of Robby. Probably because Robby is a redneck dirtbag who can barely read so, y’know, not a stretch.
That’s a cheap shot but hopefully you’ll excuse us on this occasion, because we’re talking about a man who has just gone out of his way to attempt to damage the reputation of a woman who has already been through a shitty situation in the last couple of years, when she successfully sued David Mueller for grabbing her ass under her skirt.
Kid Rock’s tweet points to his sexist bullshit with two sharp prongs. First, he has zero evidence, zero, that Taylor Swift has done any such thing. He’s pulling out an old, shitty stereotype about women in Hollywood because he doesn’t like her politics. And he doesn’t like her politics because, like the character of Robby, he’s a dirtbag.
There’s a second point to make also, and that is that Taylor Swift, like every woman, has every right to do whatever she wants with her body without judgement from the likes of Kid Rock, a man who married Pamela Anderson for five minutes and is clearly a fucking hypocrite.
In short, we’re defending Swift from Rock’s accusations, not because there would be anything wrong with her doing what she wants with her own body, but because he’s a fucking asshole who is setting out to strongarm a strong woman. Not on our watch, you entitled rich kid gangster wannabe-turned confederate flag-waving dipshit.
The worst thing about it that, as his Joe Dirt turn proves, Bob Ritchie knows full well how this stuff works. When you’re a star-name in the music biz, and your name is attached to a movie that might bring a few thousand more heads to the movie theater, then producers will often ignore any lack of serious acting chops. Sometimes, such as the case of Lady Gaga, the musician will prove to be a more than adequate actor, excellent even, and the gamble will have been well worth it.
We haven’t seen Cats yet. To be honest, the trailer looks creepy as hell—way more uncomfortable than any horror movie we’ve seen in a while, but that’s not Swift’s fault and early reports suggest that she holds her own. Meanwhile, she was great as the voice of Audrey in The Lorax.
But regardless, the use of big name musicians in Hollywood productions is nothing new. Would Rob Zombie have been given any sort of budget to make horror movies if he wasn’t already a name in metal? Probably not. Would Marilyn Manson have been cast in Sons of Anarchy? Almost certainly not. The list goes on and on, and all the way back to Elvis’ movies.
So to suggest that Taylor Swift needs to do anything to get into a Hollywood movie other than be her ultra-famous self is ludicrous. The idea that she needs to push her politics front and center to give herself a headstart is equally stupid. It just makes
no sense.
It’s really not surprising though; Kid Rock has been saying stupid shit for a long time, and even tried to excuse his confederate flag backdrops and shirts by saying that he thought it looked like the stuff Skynyrd was wearing. He sells shirts with slogans such as “Dumbfuckistan” pointing at every state that voted Democrat. He sells a red hat that says “Make America Badass Again,” another that says “God, Guns & Trump,” and another, still, that says “_onald Trump: The D is missing because it’s in every hater’s mouth.” He really is a wretched soul.
There might be some people on here that are edging towards siding with Kid Rock because they like his music a little better than Swift’s. Maybe you don’t “love” him but you think “Bawitdaba” is a rap-rock banger. Resist that. It doesn’t matter who makes the better music (although we will point out that, at her most poppy, Swift makes better country music than Rock could dream of).
Taylor Swift is a pop star and so will be of no interest to a lot of readers here. You might think that her music is sanitized pop, and everything that’s wrong with music today, and you are perfectly entitled to that opinion. Others might have a passing interest, or consider “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” a guilty pleasure. That’s ok too.
What matters here is that she’s done nothing but work hard at her career, and in the process appeal to hundreds of thousands of people. She won’t be silenced. She has political opinions and she has every right to voice them.
Kid Rock, and people like him, also have the right to disagree with her and even to call her out publicly—if they feel strongly enough about something. But to accuse her of something like this, to try to cheapen her name, it’s truly disgusting. Ironically enough, all it did was paint Rock as the nasty POS that he is, while highlighting Swift’s talent.
