In the latest social media firestorm to fire up debates about accountability and professional integrity, Billboard Chief Brand Officer Dana Droppo deleted her X, formerly Twitter, account after it was revealed that old tweets targeting Taylor Swift and Rihanna had resurfaced. The incident has underlined the extraordinary reach of fan communities and scrutiny that public figures face in this age of digital media.
Droppo’s tweets from a couple of years ago blew up on social media today, and the reaction against her is immense. According to reports, the tweets involve criticism against Taylor Swift as “can’t keep a man” and “loser.” She also made comments against Rihanna, comparing her to the reality TV personality Evelyn Lozada and reacting poorly against her comments about child birth.
Swifties, the famously devoted fans of Taylor Swift, swung into action, declaring outrage across social platforms. Demanding an apology wasn’t enough; they called out Billboard, too, for the media outlet she represents. This furor put a big spot on Droppo’s comments and blew up online communities.
Dana Droppo @billboard Chief Brand Officer… A woman executive who celebrates Billboard events like "Women in Music" but talks about female artists' vagina and comparing them to dogs? This is the type of vile human you choose to represent your brand??? Disgusting… https://t.co/ULlbUoTwJW pic.twitter.com/kIIapjnwOp
— Le Champagne (@LeChampagn3) November 28, 2024
In further fuelling the fire, Billboard recently apologized for yet another related controversy involving the singer Taylor Swift. A short clip from Kanye West’s video “Famous,” containing the image of a wax-figure-naked Swift, was taken in celebration of Swift’s achievements; outrage and complaints over the choice have led Billboard to offer their official apologies:
“We very much apologize to Taylor Swift and to all of our readers and viewers that in a video saluting Swift’s triumphs we included a clip that wrongly portrayed her. We pulled the clip from our video, and we really regret the hurt we caused with this mistake.”
This apology nailed the mistake of the video, but it increased the criticism towards Billboard and the leaders with the controversy created by Droppo’s old tweets.
Since the scandal, Dana Droppo shut down her X account rather than releasing any statement, and because of this, many questions have gone unanswered as to what she has to say on this matter.
Prior to Billboard, Droppo was a high-profile executive in such media companies as Complex Media, Rolling Stone, and The Hollywood Reporter. The controversy has struck deep, considering that her work at Billboard puts her on the pulse of shaping both the brand and audience strategy for the publication, amidst very loud and questioning fans and industry insiders on how she could reconcile her personal thoughts to those required professionally.
But it speaks to bigger questions, like: who is and will be held accountable for past internet actions, and to what extent social media holds someone in the public eye. A moment when decades-old tweets surface with such extreme outcomes-and with it, ever-greater pressure on the personal actions of public figures-to harmonize their professional obligations,. Fandoms can be powerful-say, for instance, Swifties-and through this, great warrants of accountability feature discussions concerning organizations and individual personalities.
