About half an hour into the Taylor Swift Netflix documentary Miss Americana, there's a montage of clips of women making snide comments about Taylor Swift. They call her "annoying," make cracks about all the guys she's dated, and -- in Nikki Glaser's case -- complain that she's too skinny. The documentary just came out today and Glaser apologized to Taylor Swift for her comments, which were made years ago. She took ownership of them, though, and didn't even seem to mind the death threats she's gotten from Swift's fans for what was briefly shown in Miss Americana.
We only see the actress/comedian and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser host for about a second on screen, holding a "Nikki" mug as she says this during a chat about Taylor Swift:
She's too good. She's too skinny. It bothers me. All of her model friends. And it's like, come on.
Nikki Glaser said she was "horrified" when she first heard her own voice in a trailer for the Miss Americana documentary. On Friday, January 31, she took to Instagram for a lengthy post apologizing to Taylor Swift, whom she tagged:
I love @taylorswift. Unfortunately, I am featured in her new documentary as part of a montage of asshats saying mean things about her, which is used to explain why she felt the need to escape from the spotlight for a year. It’s insanely ironic because anyone who knows me knows I’m obnoxiously obsessed with her and her music.
As she continued, Nikki Glaser said she first heard herself in the trailer for the documentary, which she watched as soon as it came out because she was so excited. She was horrified when they played a clip of her soundbite from an interview she did five years ago, noting she said what she said "in SUCH a shitty tone."
Taking responsibility for what she said, Nikki Glaser also explained how she was projecting from her own body image struggle:
This quote should be used as an example of 'projection' in PSYCH101 textbooks. If you’re familiar with my 'work' at all, you know I talk openly about battling some kind of eating disorder for the past 17 years. I was probably 'feeling fat' that day and was jealous. Also, I’ve had people say the same shit about me being too skinny before and know how terrible it feels to hear that when you’re struggling. And I was only bothered by her model friends because I’d like to be her friend and I’m not a model.
During the Netflix documentary, Taylor Swift is shown talking about her struggles with an eating disorder. She said she would be triggered by a photo showing her stomach, or any kind of comment about her looking fat, and she would just stop eating. It took her a while to get past that, and she remarked on the maddening beauty standard that demands women be flat-stomached and skinny but also have an ass and sexy curves. It's fucking impossible, as she put it.
However, the documentary shows how the standards for women do seem to be projected from and enabled by other women -- whether that standard is physical or in behavior.
In her post, Nikki Glaswer apologized openly to Taylor Swift, accepted the attacks she's already gotten from fans, and insisted she's actually a huge fan herself:
I really have no need to post this other than to apologize to someone who seriously means SO much to me. I only got a couple death threats from die-hard Swift fans, which as one myself, I totally get. So while I’ll consider going to 'die in a hole you motherfucking asshole', I just hope this somehow gets to her so she knows I’m sorry for any pain I caused her and that I’d love to be her friend someday (when I start modeling) and tell her how much her music has influenced my life and comedy. In fact, her song 'The Man' is the inspiration for my new hour of material and I feature the song is multiple iterations during my current tour. I love you Tay, and I can’t wait to watch 99.97% of your new doc #missamericana
From that last line, it sounds like Nikki Glaser hadn't actually watched the documentary by the time she posted her apology, she just already knew that her quote would be in it from the trailer, plus she's been fielding attacks from Taylor Swift fans who watched Miss Americana.
To illustrate her love, she wore a Taylor Swift T-shirt in her post:
I kind of wish she had worn a Taylor Swift Reputation shirt -- because of the play on Reputation and also because the documentary shows Swift feeling down about her Reputation album because it didn't get love at the Grammys. It's clear outside validation is still very important to her, but something she's trying to get past with a solid foundation of self-love and outside love from Joe Alwyn.
Netflix has earned a reputation of its own for strong documentary films and TV series. You can watch Miss Americana for more from Taylor Swift on politics, stalking, human rights, vulnerability and more here on Netflix.
Keep up with all of Netflix's 2020 premiere and return dates with our handy schedule.
