Beyoncé’s critical reputation made her nearly immune to criticism.

Evidence

Swift’s only serious rival was Beyoncé, whose career stretched back to Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s. In 2024, Beyoncé was crowned Billboard’s “Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century.” She had amassed a record ninety-nine Grammy nominations and won thirty-five. Though her album sales declined after 2013’s Beyoncé, her critical reputation remained formidable—almost intimidating. In 2020, The Daily Beast asked bluntly, “Why Are People So Deathly Afraid of Criticizing Beyoncé?” — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 636