yes, and? you need to calm down.||an insight into the media treatment of Ariana and Taylor.

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intro

Hello, and welcome to this informative insight into the media treatment of Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift. We'll be diving into how they've faced ruthless attacks since they were starting out as teen starlets in the industry, the endless speculation on their love lives, and how this mistreatment is unfortunately nothing new in the industry, with a big name being a big example. Let's get to it.

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topic one: to be this young, and have this fun, and be successful

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Both Ariana and Taylor started in the music industry when they were still very young, with Ariana's debut album being released when she was 20 and Taylor's debut album being released when she was only 16. Having popular albums and projects at young ages made them prime targets for media mayhem, unfortunately, and it hasn't stopped since their respective debuts.

Ariana faced a different kind of scrutiny playing Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon shows "Victorious" and "Sam and Cat," as her character was seen as a ditzy teenage girl when Ariana wasn't that. Because of her young fan base during her musical debut, it was difficult for her to be taken seriously as a musician and separate herself from the image of Cat Valentine. In an interview, she itted to having the music video for her debut single, "Put Your Hearts Up", hidden on and later deleted from her YouTube page because she didn't like her image in it and it reminded her too much of her Nickelodeon character. It was also revealed in an autobiography that Ariana's "Sam and Cat" co-star Jennette McCurdy was slightly jealous of the fact that Ariana got to pursue her solo career during the show's run, and she had to stay behind and record episodes that worked around Ariana's absence.

Meanwhile, Taylor's career skyrocketed after her sophomore album "Fearless" and her cameo in the Disney movie, "Hannah Montana The Movie," as well as her brief relationship with Joe Jonas, a popular Disney Channel figure during that time. Due to both having young fan bases, the relationship between Taylor and Joe Jonas was splashed across many teen magazines and their own music; the "Fearless" track "Forever and Always" was heavily rumored to be about their relationship, and in retaliation, the Jonas Brothers track "Much Better" referenced the "Fearless" deep cut "Superstar" and one of Taylor's debut singles, "Teardrops On My Guitar." It was also later revealed when "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" was released that she'd written the vault track "Mr. Perfectly Fine" about Joe Jonas, and included an Easter egg that references the infamous 27-second long voice-mail message he left her.

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topic two: it's not theirs to speculate

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Both parties have also had their love lives thrust into the spotlight with their careers, receiving good and bad media coverage. Ariana and Taylor both have their fair share of songs about love and romance in their respective discographies, but often, these were used against them by the media, in misogynistic ways that claimed both artists were "boy crazy" or "couldn't keep a relationship." Their sexual orientations have even been speculated about by the media and their own "fans," who post toxic and often insane conspiracy theories.

Ariana's love life has been in the spotlight since the early days of her career, as one of her singles "The Way" featured the late Mac Miller (r.i.p.) and the music video featured them being flirty and kissing. Of course, they did date off and on throughout the years until his tragic death in 2018. Ariana paid tribute to him with the lyric "wish I could say 'thank you' to Malcolm, 'cause he was an angel" in the title track for "thank u, next," and alluded to being deeply affected by his ing in the track "ghostin." Her relationships with comedian Pete Davidson and realtor Dalton Gomez seemed like they lived in the headlines forever, and her new relationship with fellow "Wicked" star Ethan Slater was the subject of gossip columns for months on end.

Ariana has also been the subject of cheating rumors throughout her career, with the late actress Naya Rivera alluding to ex fiancé Big Sean cheating on her with Ariana in her autobiography, "Sorry Not Sorry" and Ethan Slater's ex wife penning an [op-ed|] about the end of their marriage that went viral. On Ariana's side, she responded to the rumors with the "eternal sunshine" lead single, "yes, and?", which features the lyrics "now I'm so done with caring," "don't comment on my body, do not reply," and most infamously, "why do you care so much whose **** I ride?", addressing the media speculation about her life all in one track. There were even conspiracies about the depth of her relationship with "Wicked" co-star Cynthia Erivo, as some fans mistook their close friendship during the press junket for the movie as signs they were romantically linked; some fans joke about it, but there's a subsection of fans that think it's real, despite Cynthia's marriage to Lena Waithe and Ariana's relationship with Ethan Slater.

As for Taylor, her love life has been gossip fodder since her debut; as a young teenager, she wrote songs about her relationships and boy troubles, and even name dropped some in early tracks such as "Teardrops On My Guitar," "Hey Stephen," and "Dear John," although the last one is also a reference to "dear John" letters used to end a relationship. Her relationships were highly publicized, as was her career, despite any efforts to keep them out of the media cycle. She has responded to tabloid and media backlash about her love life in songs such as "Ours" and "Sl*t!" and mocked the false narrative with the memorable 1989 single, "Blank Space." She also referenced how the media affected her relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn in the "folklore" track "peace," with a lyric asking "would it be enough if I could never give you peace?."

Unfortunately, Taylor's sexual orientation has also been widely speculated about as well, despite numerous attempts to put those rumors to rest. When the media wouldn't stop harassing her for dating around in her early 20s, she started hanging out with her friends more in the public eye. Unfortunately, this backfired, and led to invasive rumors surrounding her sexuality that are still around to this day; she has addressed this in the 1989 (Taylor's Version) prologue (which I'll include a picture of), and in the press through her rep. A subsection of "fans" have dubbed themselves "Gaylors" and constantly post about Taylor's supposed secret relationship with the married model and former friend of Taylor's. Karlie Kloss, and the disrespect doesn't stop with Taylor; these so-called Gaylors believe that Karlie's children are hers and Taylor's and that her husband is simply a donor. They also call Taylor's relationship with football player Travis Kelce a "PR stunt" and even harass his family on social media.

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topic three: Miss American dream

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All of the media and tabloid hell that Ariana and Taylor have been through is unfortunately nothing new; the media has been harassing and attacking pop stars for a long time, with a notable example being pop princess, Britney Spears. She faced ruthless attacks from her debut era, with misogynistic reports speculating that she had plastic surgery and sexualizing her at just 17 years old. Her relationships were also tabloid fuel, as her ex boyfriend and former boy bander Justin Timberlake took their relationship to the media after their breakup, and his "Cry Me a River" music video featured a Britney lookalike; that didn't help the rumors that he wrote the song about her. From there, the media had a field day at her expense.

Her infamous 2007 "breakdown" was a response to all of the scrutiny she faced, as paparazzi was relentless at getting to her even during her divorce and early motherhood experience. She'd had enough, but the media spun it and called her "crazy" for defending herself and shaving her head. Britney's autobiography "The Woman in Me" details the Blackout recording sessions during this era, when she recorded the deep cut "Hot as Ice" while hiding out from the paparazzi waiting outside the recording studio, and the album features her single "Piece of Me," which is seen as her clap back to the media circus around her. The song, which was also the name of her Las Vegas residency, includes the lyrics "I'm Miss Bad Media Karma, another day, another drama," "I'm Mrs. 'She's too big, now she's too thin'," and "Well, get in line with the paparazzi who's flipping me off, hoping I'll resort to some havoc," which are just a few examples of the treatment she received from the media and how she mocked the tabloid headlines written about her then. She was also placed in an abusive conservatorship by her father, and was able to get out of it in 2021 -- thirteen years after it went into effect.

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outro

Thank you for reading this blog. If you've made it to this point, I want to thank you for sticking around and reading this full thing and seeing what they've gone through throughout their respective careers, and that it is unfortunately another cog in the Hollywood machine, despite many efforts to stop it or take control of the narratives surrounding their lives.

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psd: Venus by Missprettyreckless