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Media personality calls out Taylor Swift for not spending time in Toronto
With three sold-out shows down and three more to go, thousands of fans in Toronto are gearing up to slap on their friendship bracelets and dance the night away at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour once again, which is taking up residence at the Rogers Centre this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.
Despite back-to-back shows last week, there were no official sightings of Swift in Toronto outside the concert venue.
As a result, one woman has called out Swift for not spending time in the city, despite Toronto rolling out the red carpet for her and even temporarily renaming major streets in celebration of her tour.
Public speaker and journalist, Ginella Massa boasts over 107,000 followers on TikTok, and recently questioned why Swift hadn’t been spotted outside of the Rogers Centre during her concert run in Toronto.
@ginellamassa #taylorintoronto #tayronto #erastour #taylorswift ♬ original sound – Ginella Massa
“I just want to say that I’m highly offended that Taylor Swift is not spending any time in Toronto in between her shows. Why hasn’t she been spotted causing a frenzy at a Japanese cheesecake spot? She should be making a Somali restaurant go viral,” Massa says in the video.
“Toronto has rolled out the red carpet for her, they closed roads, they named streets after her, she got a freaking motorcade on the Gardiner, while the rest of us normies have to suffer through traffic. Even Niall Horan had to walk to his concert.”
Massa described the video as “tongue-in-cheek,” to blogTO, and explained that she was only half joking.
“I was really just curious about what Taylor Swift is doing in between her two sets of shows since she hasn’t been spotted anywhere in town like other celebrities. It would be nice if she gave a small business a boost, or visited some cancer patients or something, but I recognize security is probably a concern,” she said.
“Still, no one has gotten the amount of attention she has — not even Beyoncé! I know she’s a big deal, but I was actually quite shocked about the amount of national coverage we gave her concerts last week. The last time we saw this much wall-to-wall news coverage was probably when the Royals visited, or maybe the Pope!”
In the TikTok, Massa raised concerns about local and national newscasts prioritizing coverage of Swift’s concerts over other top stories.
“I’m not a Taylor Swift hater, but it would be nice if other important stories got as much attention,” she told blogTO.
“For example, the same day she came to town was the final hearing day of a landmark Black Class Action lawsuit against the Government of Canada, as well as a vigil for a Hamilton man killed by police — both got little media attention because of the Swift frenzy,” Massa said, referencing the killing of 43-year-old Erixon Kabera.
Earlier this month, the father of three, who was an active figure in the Rwandan community, died roughly nine hours after he was shot by police in the hallway of his condo building.
“I’m pretty sure there were important stories that didn’t make it into the news wheel because they were covering this,” Massa pointed out.
While some came to Swift’s defence, noting that the star might’ve just wanted to rest in between shows, others agreed with Massa.
“Actually that’s a very interesting point, thanks for making it,” one person wrote, while another commented, I’ve been on the edge of my seat to see what restaurant she is gonna pick and NOTHING?!”
Swift will be performing her last three Eras Tour shows in Toronto on Nov. 21, 22, and 23, before heading to Vancouver for the final three shows of the tour.