Taylor Swift is under fire for a necklace from her new merch collection. Some see Nazi symbolism – the internet reacts with outrage.
Taylor Swift released new fan merchandise to mark the announcement of a documentary series about her “The Eras” tour. One of them is causing a stir online: Swift is said to be using Nazi symbolism on a necklace, thus indicating a connection to the right-wing scene.
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Controversy over fan articles
Taylor Swift announced on Monday, October 13, a six-part docuseries about “The Eras” tour, which will debut on Disney+ in December. She linked this announcement to a merch drop. New fan merchandise for her twelfth studio album THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL is available on her website – including a silver-colored necklace with eight lightning bolts and a star-shaped pendant. This chain sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
Symbols are interpreted differently
Fans of the songwriter associate the lightning bolts and opalite star pendant with lines from her new song “Opalite.” In it, Swift sings: “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite.” The song has a personal and symbolic meaning for her, as she explained in an interview with “Capital FM”. She “loves” this stone and is enthusiastic about the metaphor that an opalite is a man-made opal – and therefore happiness can also be “man-made”. That’s what the song is about, says Swift.
However, voices have also been raised on social media comparing the chain’s lightning bolts to controversial and banned symbols. According to What’s Trending, the accusation arose that the design resembled a symbol that was historically linked to National Socialism. What is meant is the so-called Siegrune, which resembles a lightning bolt. During the Nazi era, a simple version of it was the identifying symbol of the Hitler Youth. In two forms it stood for the Schutzstaffel – the organization that was the most important support of the Nazi regime during the Second World War.
An official statement is missing
Taylor Swift’s team has not yet commented on the allegations, which further fuels speculation.