Highlights
- Taylor Swift faced rumors of a possible pregnancy at 18 sparked by a magazine photo, leading to her developing an eating disorder.
- The media's focus on Swift's appearance and body led her to internalize praise and punishment regarding her own body image.
- Swift addressed the rumors at the time, expressing frustration at being falsely portrayed and emphasizing her commitment to being a good person and role model.
Nowadays, Taylor Swift is on top of the music industry. However, she faced lots of ups and downs along the way, and that includes the sad truth about her disorder. In an interview with Variety, Swift spoke openly about her eating disorder, which was all sparked by one photo.
In the following, we're going to take a look back at the magazine shot, and all the stress that it caused. We'll take a closer look at what the reports were saying at the time, and how Taylor Swift felt about it all. The artist remained composed with the media despite the fact she was only 18 at the time of the photo.
Let's take a look at what went down.
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It is truly disturbing to look back on, but at the age of 18, Taylor Swift had to deal with rumors of a possible pregnancy, all sparked by OK Magazine. The publication posted a photo on the front cover of their magazine, showing Swift with a tiny bump while wearing a black dress.
The magazine likely made a fortune from the headline, but for Taylor Swift, she found herself struggling with an eating disorder. Swift opened up with Variety about the impact of the photo.
“I remember how, when I was 18, that was the first time I was on the cover of a magazine,” she says. “And the headline was like ‘Pregnant at 18?’ And it was because I had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat. So I just registered that as a punishment. And then I’d walk into a photo shoot and be in the dressing room and somebody who worked at a magazine would say, ‘Oh, wow, this is so amazing that you can fit into the sample sizes."
Swift continues, "Usually we have to make alterations to the dresses, but we can take them right off the runway and put them on you!’ And I looked at that as a pat on the head. You register that enough times, and you just start to accommodate everything towards praise and punishment, including your own body.”
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Thankfully, she was able to deal with these awful issues, and make a return for all the fans that support her.
Other Disturbing Reports Stated That Taylor Swift Had Gained Weight Because Of Her Eating Habits
The speculation over Swift's apparent bump was truly out of hand. The likes of Daily Mail went as far as to speculate that Swift had gained weight at the time because of her bad eating habits. The article discusses Swift not being pregnant, despite being emotional and tired.
The publication wrote, "The magazine claims one of Taylor's pals describes the singer as 'super emotional lately' and that she's been staying in a lot and avoiding alcohol. They also point out the singer's recent weight gain which is 'totally out of character' and that she's eating 'twice the amount she normally does' and going to the gym less."
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Truly a disturbing rumor and one that Swift would actually speak out about. At just 18, it is surreal to see how mature Swift was when handling the rumor even back then.
Taylor Swift Addressed The Rumors And Was Annoyed By The Speculation
Speaking alongside Access Hollywood way back in 2008, Swift addressed the rumor. Given her tone, Taylor was clearly annoyed at the time by the speculation. She said, "They're very creative saying that I'm pregnant, which is impossible and impossible. It's so crazy when you spend your entire life trying to be a good person and role model, and people make things up about you."
The interview moment can be relived below.
Swift would go on to reveal with Variety that taking photos haunted her after that moment for years.
"It’s only happened a few times, and I’m not in any way proud of it. A picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or… someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”
Thankfully for Taylor, this is all in the past and it turned out to be an empowering moment which helped others going through a similar struggle.
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