Meghan McCain asks if Taylor Swift should let others take first place

Taylor Swift may be “karmically … messing with some stuff” by not stepping aside and allowing other artists to reach No. 1 on the charts, Meghan McCain said on her podcast “Citizen McCain.” The blogger and TV personality admitted she started thinking about the issue after seeing conversations “all over Twitter and TikTok” accusing Swift of intentionally thwarting the success of artists Billie Eilish and Charlie XCX.

“I saw a tweet that said, ‘If Thriller came out next week, Taylor would release another album to stop it from going to No. 1,'” McCain said. “My only question is: You are Taylor Swift, you are Elvis-level, Beatles-level. You are the greatest of all time, one of the greatest in American history.”

“And I think when you’re 35 years old and you’re the greatest of all time and there are a couple of guys coming up who could have their first No. 1 and you have the power to give them the No. 1 or not, I just don’t know how classy that is and I think karmically you mess some things up.”

“And I understand that The Tortured Poets Department does that well, whatever. But I think it would be interesting if we focused more on music and art instead of keeping score or putting points on a scoreboard. I didn’t even know that such a thing existed until recently, and then it was all over my Twitter and TikTok,” McCain continued.

McCain asked her show’s producer, Ashley Bettis, to give her opinion as the team’s Swiftie. Bettis pointed out that Swift helped shape Charli XCX’s career when she hired the “Sympathy is a Knife” singer as a tour opener during her “Reputation” era, and questioned the idea that Swift should wait to release to give someone else a chance. Bettis asked, “I just think… why does Taylor Swift have to put herself down to lift someone else up?”

Bettis added that Swift has often filed lawsuits that benefit smaller and lesser-known artists, such as fighting for streaming rights or donating $250,000 to Kesha during her legal battle against her former producer Dr. Luke.

“I think when it comes to her own career, she shouldn’t have to make sacrifices so that someone like Billie Eilish can have a bigger success or break a record,” Bettis said. “If you want to break a record, beat the record. I don’t want anyone to let me win. I want to win. I really want to beat her.”

“Taylor Swift is dead” chants began at Charli XCX performances after Swift released UK-only versions of her latest album, “The Tortured Poet’s Department,” on June 13, days after the release of Charli XCX’s album, “Brat,” on June 7. Fans began speculating online that Swift released the album to stop Charli XCX’s success, but Swift’s team insisted otherwise.

Taylor Nation, an account run by Swift’s management team, hinted on X that the record’s release coincided with the singer’s UK tour dates, which began in Edinburgh on June 7.