Amber Ruffin Won't Pit Beyoncé And Taylor Swift Against Each Other

By Andrew Sanford | TV | December 18, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | December 18, 2023 |

It’s great to like things. It is! Enjoying something, like a song or a movie, can make you feel happy. I would recommend that people enjoy things as much as possible! That said, if certain people are too fond of something (or someone), they will take that thing and hoist it high above all others. They will claim that their thing is better than any other thing, and people who prefer different things are stupid for doing so. I’m here to say that people should resist that urge. Just ask Amber Ruffin!

Amber blessed the cameras with her presence in a recent episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. She presented a brand new “Amber Says What.” First, let me say how happy I am to write about Amber. Between the strikes, her busy Broadway schedule, and the fact that her show will only return as occasional specials going forward, I’ve been starved of Ruffin goodness. This segment is pure, uncut Ruffin. It’s funny and silly and touches on something I’ve also gone through recently.

I am not a Taylor Swift fan. I have respect for all that she has accomplished, but my engagement ends there. I am, however, a Beyoncé fan. I love Beyoncé’s music and found myself comparing the release of her new concert film to the release of Swift’s. That’s no good! These are two mega-successful women. They don’t need to be compared. They need to be celebrated. The fact that they are both making the splash that they are is historic. Just because one doesn’t appeal to me doesn’t mean I should try to explain why what I like is better or more significant. They’re both great!

Look, all of this will sound better coming out of Amber Ruffin. I was struck by how much her revelation appealed to me. I wasn’t bashing Swift, but I was certainly (even on a mental or subconscious level) assuming that her concert film isn’t as important because it’s not Beyoncé. It’s reductive and unnecessary. Even if I wasn’t broadcasting my opinion, it’s important to catch some negative thoughts before they fester and grow, and one day, you find yourself as a 70-year-old grump who hates anything they don’t care to understand.

Yes, my parents did visit this weekend. Why do you ask?