CELEBRITY
SELFISH Taylor Swift ACCUSED of blocking artists from Billboard top spot AGAIN as she restocks special versions of TTPD: ‘She’s really trying to break that record’
Taylor Swift has been accused of blocking artists from the top Billboard spot again as she continues to restock special versions of The Tortured Poets Department.
The 34-year-old megastar – whose latest album topped the Billboard 200 chart for the 11th straight week – restocked webstore versions of The Tortured Poets Department on Sunday.
When Chart Data posted about the release on X, many flooded the comments as Taylor has faced accusations that she has been working behind the scenes to block pop rivals on the charts.
One commenter wrote: ‘the most chart obsessed and desperate artist in history.’
A different X user made the point that Taylor had not done a special release when Megan Thee Stallion released her album Megan on June 28.
They wrote: ‘Taylor Swift is very chart obsessed but it’s so funny to me that she did not have to release any edition last week because Megan is literally not a threat [two crying emojis]’
Lastly, another posted a video of Beyonce saying ‘this b**** will never give up’ with the caption: ‘She really trying to break that record…’
The record that is being referred to is Carole King’s who currently has the longest consecutive run atop the Billboard 200 for a female solo artist thanks to her iconic singer–songwriter album Tapestry.
That 1971 album stayed at number one for an astounding 15 weeks, according to Billboard.
According to publication, the last album by a woman to spend 11 weeks at number one was 1989, which achieved that feat in 2014 and 2015, though its stint was nonconsecutive.
But the last time a woman had the same number of consecutive weeks at the top was all the way back in late 1992 and early 1993, when Whitney Houston scored 11 straight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her soundtrack for The Bodyguard.
The soundtrack eventually racked up a total of 20 nonconsecutive weeks at number one.
Although King holds the record for a woman with 15 weeks in a row, other woman have spent many more weeks at number one with nonconsecutive runs.
The outlet notes that, if Taylor’s latest album is number one for an additional week — after debuting on top on May 4 — she will be the first woman to spend at least 12 weeks at number one since Adele scored an incredible 24 nonconsecutive weeks with her album 21 in 2011 and 2012.
The latest chart news comes as the A-lister has faced increasing accusations that she’s been working behind the scenes to block her pop rivals on the charts.
Most recently, pop diehards suspected that Taylor and her record label may have pulled some tactics to prevent Charli XCX’s Brat from topping the UK albums chart.
The drama kicked off last month following the release of Brat – which is currently the most-acclaimed album of 2024, according to Metacritic.
Brat was officially tipped to debut at No. 1 on the UK charts, dethroning Taylor’s The Tortured Poets Department after a five-week run at the top.
However, midway through the charting week, Taylor surprised her fans by suddenly releasing several new UK-exclusive versions of TTPD – which resulted in the album getting a surge in sales and surpassing Charli in the mid-week predictions.
The new versions were only temporarily available and were pulled by the end of the chart tracking week, leading many to assume that the move was all about keeping TTPD in the No. 1 position.
The flash sale ended up being enough to keep Taylor on top, making TTPD her longest-running No. 1 album in the UK, while Charli had to settle for second place.
Music critics and influencers have spoken out about the move, with many suspecting that Taylor may have been intentionally blocking Charli from the top spot.