In case you haven’t been paying attention to Joseph Kahn’s Twitter feed, the director—who has worked on music videos with celebs like Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry—is still talking about Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”
A quick recap: When Swift released a teaser from the video late last month, some eagle-eyed fans saw more than a few suspicious similarities to Beyoncé’s video for “Formation” and reacted accordingly. (Read: memes. So many memes.) The video director waded into the debate to downplay any similarities.
I’ve worked with Beyoncé a few times. She’s an amazing person. The #LWYMMDvideo is not in her art space. Love and respect to Bey.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) August 26, 2017
But it didn’t end there. He doubled down and accused Swift’s detractors of being sexist.
If I plan something as a man I’m a “genius.” If Taylor as a woman plans something she is “manipulative.” Double standards. This is wrong.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) August 30, 2017
Then, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times about his new movie, the Eminem-produced “rap battle satire” Bodied (which premiered at TIFF this week), Kahn went ALL IN. “It’s not ‘Formation’ at all,” he said. “They try to say she’s wearing a black crop top and Beyonce wore a black crop top. But they don’t realize in 2015 in ‘Bad Blood,’ Taylor Swift was wearing a black crop top. I really do think, by the way, that Beyoncé copied ‘Bad Blood.’”
Um.
Our personal thoughts about the alleged copying aside, this is a bold (and possibly dumb?) move, because, as we all know, the Beyhive doesn’t mess around. Not that Kahn seems to care.
Beyhive triggered.https://t.co/P2ByzMn5gl
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 7, 2017
Come get it Beyhive . The candy is right here. https://t.co/FCaz7HgeVV
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 7, 2017
When you ain’t got no marketing budget, remember: bees make honey and it’s delicious.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 6, 2017
Of course, Kahn’s explanation for his provocative statements is that he’s all about that offbeat humour, but is it just us, or does “I’m just trolling” feel like a bit of a cop-out?
Yes. The world is full of stupid motherfuckers. https://t.co/TKnmwHtF1A
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 7, 2017
“It as a joke” is just a little too convenient. It’s a well-trodden excuse in pop culture, and particularly in comedy, where it’s pulled out whenever a sexist, homophobic or racist joke doesn’t land.
This is relevant considering some of Kahn’s other “jokes,” including this one, which he tweeted after facing criticism about whitewashing in Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” video, which was set in a pseudo-colonial version of an unnamed African country.
I never said I have black friends I’m not racist. I said I have SUPER HOT black friends I’m not racist.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 2, 2017
Yikes.
Not to get too ~deep~ here, but using humour to explain away problematic statements doesn’t actually work. As Jason P. Steed, an English prof turned lawyer, explained in a Twitter essay last summer, “If you’re willing to accept ‘just joking’ as defense, you’re willing to enter in-group where idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable. [So,] if ‘just joking’ excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted idea of racism as part of being in-group.”
Sure, a pseudo-feud about who’s copying who isn’t that serious—but Kahn’s insistence on saying he doesn’t really mean the other problematic things he says is kind of gross.
That being said, we know the best way to handle this situation is by taking a page from Bey and JAY-Z’s book (“Who?”), but… we’re totally still making some popcorn and settling in for the Beyhive’s reaction.
Related:
All the Hidden References to Taylor Swift’s Feuds in Her New Vid
T-Swift’s Shady Vid + All the Other Drama That Went Down at the VMAs
Taylor Swift Wins Victory in Sexual Assault Trial, But It’s Not Over Yet
