Taylor Swift may need to “Shake Off” the controversy involving the video for her new single, “Shake It Off.”
In the clip, Taylor clumsily dances with a variety of dancers, including ballet, breakers and cheerleaders. At issue is the portion of the video in which she’s twerking alongside African-American dancers.
Some have taken to Twitter to criticize. One wrote, “Aww, cute!!! Taylor Swift made a mockery of black culture and black womanhood in her new music video! What a sweet, absolutely racist phase.” Another writes, “Shake It Off is racist and offensive. Why does your self-expression and rebellion have to come off the backs of black people?” Another person, who admitted to not having seen the video, tweeted, “I don’t need to watch it to tell you that it’s inherently offensive and ultimately harmful.”
Looks like Taylor will have to take her own advice on this one and shake it off.