Taylor Swift Doesn’t Really Get Albright Quote, Does She?

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Taylor Swift struck back at Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for joking about her at the Golden Globes last January. “You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people,” said Swift. “Because she said to me she had heard a quote that she loved that said, ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.'”

That particular quote is attributed to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. And it’s hardly an original quote in any event. Many attribute the original (“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”) to Dante Alighieri in his “Inferno.” There are countless versions of it floating around.

During the awards ceremony, Fey and Poehler joked that Swift, who is known for her quick romances, should keep her hands off Michael J. Fox’s son. Swift had just stopped seeing Harry Styles of One Direction. Before that she had a short fling with Conor Kennedy and there was all this talk of her marrying into the Kennedy clan.

Now, we hate a tasteless joke probably as much, if not more, than the next blog. but our idea of a tasteless joke involves a lot more than joking about serial dating. We don’t think they reserve special places in hell for that, for men or women.

Us Weekly got a swift response from Tina Fey who said: “It was just a joke, and I think it was actually a very benign joke.” Really, it was. Amy Poehler told the Hollywood Reporter: “Aw, I feel bad if she was upset. I am a feminist, and she is a young and talented girl, That being said, I do agree I am going to hell. But for other reasons. Mostly boring tax stuff.”

So think about it, Taylor — comedians who make jokes with no malicious intent are not the type of women that Madeleine Albright was referring to at all. There are all sorts of crimes and atrocities that will get someone a special place in hell before a joke will that didn’t cause you any damage or cost you any money.