Did the Country Music Hall of Fame make a statement announcing that it would not consider Taylor Swift for induction because her music "is bubblegum, not country"? No, that's not true: The story came from a satirical website but then was reposted on social media without a disclaimer indicating that it was not a real news article. Lead Stories found no evidence corroborating the claim.
The story appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on April 18, 2024. It showed a screenshot of an article published under the title:
The Country Music Hall of Fame Won't Consider Taylor Swiftfor Induction: 'Her Music is Bubblegum, Not Country'
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Apr 24 20:10:09 2024 UTC)
Origins of the claim
The bottom left corner of the shared image showed a logo of "AMERICA'S LAST LINE OF DEFENSE," a self-described "network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery" (archived here) incorporating different online resources associated with Christopher Blair -- a man who trolls conservatives.
One of those websites, The Dunning-Kruger Times, published the article (archived here) about Swift that the post on Facebook referred to. This resource was named after the Dunning-Kruger effect (archived here), a psychology term that describes ignorance of one's own ignorance (though a math professor has disputed [archived here] whether it's a proven phenomenon).
The Dunning-Kruger Times explicitly states (archived here):
Everything on this website is fiction.
Taylor Swift and the Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (archived here) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization (archived here) in Nashville, Tennessee, that aims to preserve the history of this music genre and displays "bronze plaques commemorating membership in the museum's Hall of Fame Rotunda."
Induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame is decided (archived here) by annual voting by "an anonymous panel" selected by a professional trade group, the Country Music Association (archived here), also known as the CMA. The nonprofit does not participate in the election process, according to its website.
As of this writing, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum maintained ties with Swift and did not dispute the degree of the country style in her music. On April 19, 2024, the museum published a press release (archived here) saying:
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum has updated the display in its Taylor Swift Education Center with several new artifacts from Swift's early career. Items on display include key musical instruments used by Swift that illustrate her origins in country music, as well as educate audiences on the musical traditions of the genre. Beginning today, these objects will be on view for museum visitors through spring 2025 and are accessible with general museum admission.
The news section of the CMA website does not say anything about removing Swift from consideration for the Country Hall of Fame induction. Had it been the organization's official statement, it would likely have been published on its website.
Lead Stories did a search using keywords on the Google News archive of thousands of reliable information sites, visible here (archived here), which found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim.
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims about Taylor Swift are here.
