People can like the music they like, of course. Not everyone is going to love Metallica, or Morgan Wallen, or Mozart. Maybe they all have some merit, but musical taste is completely subjective. So, when figure skater Ilia Malinin talks about Taylor Swift, maybe Swifties can forgive him.
Speaking with NBC Today Show host Craig Melvin before the 2026 Milan Olympics, an interview that was recorded before the Olympics took place, Malinin, the skater known as the "quad god" and expected to at least medal in his individual event, dropped his opinion on the queen of pop. He needed just one word to make his stance clear.
Melvin asked Malinin what kind of music he listened to, and the skater said he didn't have a favorite genre and that he could listen to anything from electronic to metal. The interview then asked, somewhat oddly, "Taylor Swift? A lot of Taylor Swift?"
Figure skater Ilia Malinin is no fan of Taylor Swift
About a half-second later, Malinin said, simply, "No...some music I don't like." Melvin then asked what other musical artists Malinin doesn't listen to and the skater answered, "That's it."
Swifties won't be happy with his words, but the Olympics were not all a loss. Swift did help with producing a clip about the female athletes on Team USA. Her song, "Opalite," plays over the promo, and the singer does a bit of narration about the athletes. It is well done, of course, but was also likely made before Swift knew about Malinin's words.
Would that have made a difference in her participation with the promo? Almost certainly not. Taylor Swift appears to be a classy individual, and she also probably understands that not everyone is going to like her music, just most people. Ilia Malinin's opinion is not throwing shade at Swift the person, but all about the music.
Unfortunately for the skater, he fell twice in his Olympic free skate, finishing eighth in the competition, and, obviously, not medaling. The assumption is that no Swifty is happy with his lack of success after hearing what he said about the singer.
As for Taylor Swift, she has released her second single from her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, and the tune is called "The Fate of Ophelia." The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and is currently No. 1 on the UK charts. In other words, Swift is doing just fine.