After receiving her honorary doctorate from New York University, Taylor Swift gave a speech to the class of 2022 about life's hardships and subtly addressed cancel culture.
The 32-year-old hitmaker was made an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at the Yankee Stadium in New York City on Wednesday and delivered a compelling speech to the crowded venue.
"I would like to thank NYU for making me, technically, on paper at least, a doctor," Swift said, per BuzzFeed News.
Watch her speech below:"Not the type of doctor you would want around in case of an emergency, unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section, or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute," she added.
She then told graduates to shake off life's hardships and let go: "You can’t carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go."
Swift continued: "One toxic relationship can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys."
The 11-time Grammy award winner also joked about her interesting fashion choices in 2012, saying she dressed like a "50s housewife" and encouraged the crowd to embrace "being cringe."
"Learn to live alongside cringe," Swift said. "No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively."
The singer urged the audience to never be ashamed of trying, saying: "Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it the most are the people I now hire to work for my company."
Swift also shared that when she first became famous as a teenager, people warned her about going off the rails which led her to believe that if she made mistakes, she would be a failure.
"I became a young adult while being fed the message that if I didn't make any mistakes, all the children of America would grow up to be perfect angels," she said. "However, if I did slip up, the entire earth would fall off its axis and it would be entirely my fault and I would go to pop star jail forever and ever."
The singer subtly referenced her public feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in 2016 when the rapper included her in his song 'Famous'. She said: "Getting canceled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine."
Swift ended her speech by telling the graduates to "breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out."
"And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works," she concluded.
