The Swift Karma: ‘TayVoodoo’
On September 10, the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl released a statement announcing he’d cheated on his wife, and fathered another baby as a result. The internet cared a lot—mainly fans who considered him the nicest man in rock. Strangely, Taylor Swift fans cared a lot, too.
It started back in June, around the time Swift was playing at Wembley and the Foo Fighters were playing at London Stadium, when Grohl made a comment mid concert about Swift: “I tell you man, you do not want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift,” he told the crowd. “We like to call ourselves the ‘Errors Tour.’ We’ve had more than a few eras, and more than a few f—ing errors as well.”
He continued on: “That’s because we actually play live. What?! Just saying.”
Taylor Swift responded indirectly, later thanking her band on stage for playing live for over three hours. Who knows if she even cared that much (although Grohl and her are considered friends).
But Dave Grohl is now the latest victim of what swifties call “Tayvoodoo,” a term first originated by her fans on Twitter and Tumblr.
The term “voodoo” may be misconstrued here, as the realities of Haitian Vodou practice and the pop culture voodoo we typically think of are very different. But to fans, tayvoodoo is less a term, and more a theory. If you wrong Taylor, karma will find you eventually.
The OG Kanye West feud is the best example. Starting with the 2009 VMAs incident, later with the 2016 leaked phone call depicting Taylor as a liar, and wife Kim Kardashian comparing her to a snake. Kim and Kanye were considered heroes on the internet, finally confirming what “everyone” had already guessed—Taylor Swift was a fraud.
Somehow, Kanye fumbled it. His anti semitic statements ruined his Adidas and Balenciaga deals. It ruined his relationship with his wife, and destroyed his footing with the public. Maybe it was karma. Maybe it was fate.
Then, her former record company betrayed her and sold her masters to Scooter Braun after she asked them not to, even offering to buy them herself. Scooter Braun, who refused to sell them to her, was next on the Swiftie hit list. But that situation naturally imploded for Braun as well.
There’s also Karlie Kloss, the ex-best friend who did some sketchy stuff, like being friends with people who dislike Taylor. But Kloss ended up marrying the younger brother of Trump’s advisor/son-in-law, and her image hasn’t really been the same since.
You could say her DJ ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris is a victim of tayvoodoo–he was shady after the breakup, and his career didn’t go very far post-split (arguably his last hit was in 2018).
But Tayvoodoo isn’t just about others downfalls. It’s the little coincidences that seem too perfect. It’s how on a random day in 2017 she made her online comeback post-Kanye, and on the same day six years later Scooter Braun lost his top clients. That the Chiefs won the Superbowl the year she started dating a player, that the Giants lost after fans booed an ad with Swift. That her gutsy move to re-record her albums paid off, or that her success has grown to unprecedented levels, even after a public dethroning.
Even tonight, just one day after Dave Grohl’s announcement, Taylor Swift is officially the most awarded artist in VMA history. You can’t ignore the irony: Kanye stole her stage almost exactly 15 years ago today.
