TAYLOR’S BIG YEAR
While the royals not surprisingly dominated headlines this year, Taylor Swift gave them a run for their money. In 2019, she released her new album, Lover, broke the record for the most wins by an artist at the American Music Awards and managed to plan her star-studded 30th birthday bash on December 13 attended by the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Halsey and Gigi Hadid. Well, she probably had a bit of help with that last one. But it was her impassioned speech as she received Billboard’s inaugural Woman of the Decade Award on December 12 which has been my favourite Taylor moment of the year. By now you might have guessed I’m a proud Swiftie!
Presented with the award by actress Jameela Jamil, Swift spoke for 15 minutes about Scooter Braun buying her music without her consent and sexism in the music industry.
“So why are we [female artists] doing so well? We have to work this hard, we have to prove that we deserve this, and we have to top our last achievements. Women in music are not allowed to coast. We are held at a higher, sometimes impossible-feeling standard. And it seems that my fellow female artists have taken this challenge and accepted it,” she said.
You can read Taylor’s exclusive interview with WHO on page 30 about her big year. In fact, this double issue is packed with all the best and worst moments of 2019. There are 60+ pages of the most memorable weddings, beautiful fashion moments, shocking scandals and news events that rocked the world.
And it wouldn’t be a quintessential WHO issue without an exclusive interview with one of Hollywood’s biggest names, Jennifer Aniston, about why 2019 was her best year yet. Enjoy the bumper issue!
–Stacey Hicks, Editor