Once Swifties finished soaking in every last note of Taylor Swift's ‘Midnights’ album, the speculations began about what the superstar might have in store next. For months, most fans were convinced that her next move would be a re-release of 'Reputation (Taylor’s Version)', but Swift had other plans. Instead of revisiting the past, she surprised everyone with a completely new album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. From the moment her eleventh album dropped, it has been making waves of its own, smashing records and setting new ones along the way. 

Despite all the love and recognition, though, Taylor Swift's ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ did not manage to secure a spot on a Grammy-nominated critic’s top 20 list of the best albums of 2024.

Taylor Swift’s 'The Tortured Poets Department' recently hit a major milestone. The album went 6x Platinum in just seven months, making it the highest-certified album released in 2024. This impressive feat came from selling six million units in less than seven months since its release. Even so, Amanda Petrusich, a critic from The New Yorker, did not think it deserved a spot in her top 20 list of the best albums of 2024. In her latest article for the publication, Petrusich bashed Swift’s fans and described them as an “obsessive, parasocial fandom.” 

To back up her argument, Petrusich further claimed that Swift herself seemed to call out her fandom in the track ‘But Daddy I Love Him’ from ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. "She appears to take a swipe at the lunatic Swifties who frantically disavowed her brief and alleged romance with Matty Healy,” wrote the author. She also argued that Swift “has never loved a critic,” referencing her 2010s track ‘Mean’, where the 'Lover' singer allegedly “rebuffs an unnamed writer.” As for the diss track, even Matty Healy had responded to it. 

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While Healy’s response was pretty nonchalant, oozing indifference, his aunt gave it all away. 

Matty Healy, during a brief chat with Entertainment Tonight earlier this year, confessed that he has not “really listened to that much of” 'The Tortured Poets Department' when asked about his alleged diss track. However, the singer added that he is “sure it’s good.” While Healy kept it cool, his aunt Debbie Dedes, speaking to The Daily Mail, hinted that Healy may have been expecting these mentions in the album all along.

Dedes posed a rhetorical question that Taylor Swift “writes about all her relationships, doesn’t she?” and quickly added, “I don't think it will come as a shock to him at all.” The album is also rumored to contain multiple references to Joe Alwyn, which finally led the British actor to speak out about his breakup with the pop star. Nonetheless, whatever Swift’s inspiration behind 'The Tortured Poets Department' may have been, it has certainly gone down in history with its milestones, even if it has not found its way into everyone’s good books.

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What do you think about Amanda Petrusich’s thoughts about Taylor Swift and her 2024 album? Let us know in the comments below!