Sunday was quite the shit storm on social media as hundreds of old tweets from Taylor Nolan surfaced that were, shall we say, some of the most racist, ignorant, vile, disgusting things you’ve ever read. You name a gender, a community, etc and she seemingly offended them. I was disgusted, embarrassed, disappointed and let down. I made that known on Twitter that I needed to hear more from Taylor about this because this was not the woman I’ve known for the last few years. She’d never expressed any of these beliefs to me in the hours of conversations we’ve had in the last 6 months. Not even close. So yeah, I was shocked to see these tweets from 8-10 years ago surface. And when Taylor responded with a statement on IG and a 30 min video behind it…I personally didn’t like it. She got way too defensive, and almost seemed mad at the people who posted the tweets, even though they were hers. Nor did she initially apologize to every group she offended, and seemingly only addressed the BIPOC community. I thought that was the complete wrong message.
Yesterday, Taylor came out with an updated apology. Here’s what she wrote:
She’s right. Her first apology Sunday was not an apology. It was a reaction. And not a good one at that. I do believe though that the beliefs she held in the past are not how she feels today. And I don’t just say that to say that. She’s actually shown over the last few years through her podcast and her lives she’s done with people, she has done the work to show she’s an ally for a lot of groups. Does it dismiss what she wrote in those tweets? Absolutely not. The bottom line is while she has done the work, Taylor has to understand that that just won’t be good enough for some people. And when I say some, I mean probably the majority. There’s no explanation for those tweets. None. No point in sitting here and dissecting them or even linking to them. If you want to see them, you can easily Google them. And I’m not NOT including them here because Taylor is a friend. It’s because they absolutely would trigger people who fall into any of the communities she offended. I wouldn’t want to read them either if I were those people.
I spoke to Taylor last night for over an hour. I don’t need to go into detail about what we talked about, but she never made excuses to me about what she wrote. She can’t. They’re inexcusable. We disagreed on whether they should remain up. She thinks there’s no point in deleting them since so many outlets have screen shots of them. I don’t see it that way. She wasn’t 100% behind leaving them up. I think she may have seen that it’s probably better to take them down, but I don’t know what she’s doing for sure. I think they should come down and I made that known. I tried to lend a helping and understanding voice as just a friend, because I know she’s going through a lot right now. You saw on Thurs or Fri of last week a post she made with still photos of her crying saying basically it’s ok to admit you’re not ok. And that was BEFORE this all broke. I know she’s getting it from every angle and A LOT of people are pissed at her, disappointed, and feel let down – and everyone of them has a right to feel that way. She understands that.
I don’t know exactly what the immediate future holds for Taylor, but based on our convo, I don’t think you’ll be hearing much from her going forward. At least on social media. I personally told her to either shut down her IG, or, if she chooses to leave it up, just don’t post anything. Especially when it comes to this show. Even when she was advocating for holding the show accountable for their treatment of BIPOC contestants, she was still getting shit on, and that’s what was causing her all this stress and anxiety. She doesn’t need to do that. I told her she could still watch the show if she wanted, but if were her, I would never do another IG story or post regarding anything that has to do with this show. Counterproductive. It’ll only make things worse for her. Because ANYTHING she says, or any opinion she has will be met with, “Yeah, this coming from the girl who said _____.” And again, everyone has that right to say that to her after those tweets from this past weekend.
Taylor was on my podcast two weeks ago. You heard her. She’s very passionate about what she preaches. So yes, she’s well aware that there’s people out there LOVING this happened to her and are loving the pile on that’s happening right now. People are taking joy in seeing this happen to her. Now while she absolutely 1000% needs to be held accountable for what she wrote, people who take joy in bringing others down, I think is a bit much. I know your response to that will be, “But Steve, she took joy in attacking Rachael and Chris.” I disagree. No she didn’t. She on numerous occasions said Rachael and Chris aren’t bad people. Her biggest thing was holding them accountable for what they did. Now that Taylor has been exposed for having this in her past, judging who has the worst infraction isn’t the story here. All these people need to be held accountable and Taylor absolutely is the newest one to join that list. I hear everyone’s complaints to me over the last 48 hrs and I hear you. You all have made excellent points that I’m not gonna tell you you’re wrong on.
And if holding Taylor accountable means you the viewer choose to not listen to her podcast anymore, not buy any products she sells, unfollow her, etc., then that’s absolutely your right to do that. It’s probably what I expect most people will do. And I certainly am not gonna fight you on it. So just like with Chris and Rachael, the question now becomes “what do they need to show us moving forward.” This is a different situation in that normally (someone in BN said this yesterday and it’s so true), a contestant screws up, they apologize, then start doing the work to back up that apology. Taylor is doing this in reverse. She’s been doing the work, but her screw up just now came to light, but before she started doing the work. Some of you think her work is nullified now because of what she said. I don’t think it can be dismissed that easily, but I do think there’s an argument being made that says it can. Myself, I know Taylor and what she’s said to me and taught me over the last 6-9 months. The links she sent me about the BIPOC community, book suggestions, and the things she told me to read in regards to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc aren’t nullified now because of her tweets. That helpful information doesn’t become irrelevant now because of her tweets. The articles didn’t change, the books didn’t change, the podcasts didn’t change. Still the same info.
I will never make an excuse for what Taylor wrote in those hundreds of tweets. It was one. It wasn’t two. It wasn’t five or ten. It was hundreds. They were upsetting on many levels to me and I wasn’t even part of any group that was targeted in them really, so I can only imagine how others felt. Everything that’s happened recently with the Chris, Rachael, and now Taylor situation becomes similar in terms of how we move forward with each of them. What will it take for you to forgive Rachael? What will it take for Chris to show you to see that he’s done the work? Taylor has been doing the work, and has done podcasts on the topics that 8-10 years ago, she was railing about. So what does she need to do to earn your trust back, if anything? Maybe none of those people can do anything in your eyes. Maybe one can. Maybe two can. Maybe all three can. I just don’t think there’s a universal answer. Each individual has their own standards as to what they may be for each individual. I know that I was not a fan at all of Taylor’s first apology on Sunday, or, reaction as it was. I don’t believe that’s her true feelings, but you know what, only time will tell on that. We’ll discuss this more tonight on the live with Ashley at 8ET/5PT. This is not an easy subject. Especially when Taylor is a friend. But I told her I’m disappointed in her and I felt she let me and a lot of others down by those tweets, and, her initial reaction to them. We’ll see how she handles herself from here, but she’s got a long way to go.
