Taylor Swift faces backlash for attending U.S. Open with Brittany Mahomes. Why the pop star is likely ignoring the noise.

Taylor Swift's good name is hers alone to disgrace, and if fans learned one thing from those "But Daddy I Love Him" lyrics, it's that she's not going to play ball when it comes to dealing with public backlash.

In one week, Swift managed to upset people on both the right and left ends of the political spectrum regarding her relationship with good friend Brittany Mahomes. But Swift seems to be sending a clear message to the public with her latest outing.

On Sept. 5, the Grammy winner made headlines when she and Brittany sat in separate suites at the Kansas City Chiefs game, a noticeable shift from when they were inseparable last season. People online speculated it was due to Brittany's political beliefs, as she appears to support former President Donald Trump. (Swift endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.) Headlines quickly circulated about the supposed "feud" and many celebrated Swift seemingly taking a stand.

Cut to three days later and those same people had the opposite reaction on X, when Swift and Travis Kelce sat with Brittany and Patrick Mahomes at the men's singles final of the U.S. Open. In case there was any confusion where things stand, the group went on a double dinner date after the match.

It didn't take long for headlines to shift. "Taylor Swift Just Publicly Embraced Trump Supporter Brittany Mahomes at the US Open, And This Is Why It’s Kind of a Big Deal," read a Buzzfeed News article. Swifties expressed disappointment online.

Some of the pop star's fans have gotten very involved in the upcoming presidential election, with the group "Swifties 4 Kamala" mobilizing online. While it's likely that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, will earn Swift's endorsement, it hasn't happened yet. Swift does these things on her own terms.

After breaking her apolitical public stance in 2018, Swift has endorsed various Democrats. She took heat from the left for not backing Hillary Clinton when she ran against Trump in the 2016 election. Fans heard a regretful Swift break her silence on that in her 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana.

The same rules apply to her personal life.

During the superstar's brief fling with Matty Healy in 2023, many Swifties were unhappy at her choice in romantic partner. He faced controversy for racist jokes and supposedly had dragged the singer years prior. Swift stayed silent until April's album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), where she took aim at critics on "But Daddy I Love Him."

Swift clearly doesn't cave to public pressure when it has to do with a hot-button topic, so don't expect her to do it now with Mahomes.

Blake Lively, another one of Swift's BFFs, faced backlash in August amid drama surrounding her film It Ends With Us. The singer didn't promote the movie on social media like she did with Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool & Wolverine, Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, Blink Twice, and Sabrina Carpenter's new album Short n' Sweet.

Media outlets reported on Swift seemingly snubbing Lively online, and while her social media actions may have been intentional, so was what she did next. Days later, Swift threw Lively a star-studded birthday party at her home in Rhode Island.

Despite Swift being the subject of some online controversy over the past year, it isn't making a dent in her success. By the end of 2024, her record-breaking "Eras Tour" is expected to bring in $2.165 billion. TTPD spent its first 12 weeks on the chart at No. 1, and after a few weeks dropping in the top five, rebounded back to the top spot. Plus, she and Kelce are going strong. It's unlikely any of the most recent online noise is getting to the biggest star in the world.