Radio presenter Ken Bruce has earned the wrath of the Swifties for comments he made about Taylor Swift in a recent interview.
The Greatest Hits radio host told the The Mail On Sunday that he thinks: ‘All her songs are the same.’
He continued, explaining why he doesn’t play her music on his show: ‘I’ll play her on my station when she writes something that isn’t about her ex-boyfriends.’
He went on to further clarify his distaste for her music, stating: ‘Great radio songs have three beats and then they’re straight into the song, not these long intros that she does.’
Bruce also added that his listeners mostly expect 80s, 90, and noughties music anyway, so playing Swift wouldn’t make sense.
He continued: ‘We do early noughties and 2010s, not very many but we expect people to know things from recent and current music – only the biggest names, though.’
The comments have sparked fury amongst Swifties online, with one commenter, @metaphysical_af, writing: ‘ Leave it to an old white man to be completely out of touch….. Shocker.’
Meanwhile, another X user, @blueafswiftie, posted: ‘Tell me you’ve never actually given her music a chance without telling me 😂 men are so quick to parrot that talking point. News flash, men write about their relationships just as much. Grow up.’
@Gigi414107 added: ‘If this is actually true, then someone needs to educate this ignorant “presenter.” Many of her songs are inspired by her imagination or are narrative-driven and not about an ”ex.” Mr. Bruce needs to improve his game.’
Other users simply listed a few of Swift’s songs that have nothing to do with her ex-boyfriends, including @peanutb44027597, who wrote: ‘I Did Something Bad, Who’s afraid of little old me, Florida, Clara Bow, Nothing New, mirrorball, seven, the lakes, marjorie, it’s time to go, closure, long story short, Anti-Hero, Vigilante Shit, Look what you made me do, The Man, Bad Blood, You’re on your own Kid, Karma, Mean…’
The radio DJ has never positioned himself as an arbiter of mainstream popular music, making his comments on Swift particularly ill-advised.
In fact, he’s even voiced concerns about his former employer, BBC Radio 2, attempting to rebrand itself as a ‘cool’ station that appeals to listeners like Taylor Swift’s young fan base.
Bruce presented his mid-morning programme for more than three decades before leaving Radio 2 on March 3, 2023.
After his departure, the station saw its average weekly listeners drop by 7% from 14.5million in January to March 2023 to 13.5m in April to June 2023 – the largest quarterly fall for Radio 2 in years.
Bruce later suggested that the BBC should reconsider its strategy. Radio 2’s attempts to follow trends have alienated listeners who want the old-school hits his new show offers.
He said: ‘When you’re over 35, you’re more comfortable with yourself and don’t mind being uncool,’ he said. ‘Radio 2 thinking it’s cool is the worst thing we can do.’
Since moving to Greatest Hits Radio, Bruce has amassed a weekly audience of 3.8million listeners, proving that he clearly knows something about what people want to hear – though this evidently does not apply to Swifties.
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