Sombr says Taylor Swift's advice changed how he handles hate

Sombr has named Taylor Swift as the person he looks up to most, and said advice she gave him changed how he deals with hateful comments.

He spoke about Swift in an interview published on Sept. 22 in Elle. The conversation was reported more widely on Sept. 23 by Billboard, which described the Elle piece as the source of his comments.

Asked who he admires, Sombr pointed straight to Swift. He said she had spoken to him about handling criticism online. That guidance stuck with him.

Swift told him that if the hate comments go away, maybe you are no longer at your peak. Sombr repeated that line in the interview. He said it reframed the noise for him.

He went further. He said he now treats receiving hateful messages as a privilege. His response, he said, should be to rise above them.

That shift mattered. He said the advice changed his perspective and helped him cope. It is a short lesson. Do not let the comments set the terms.

Sombr also described how he first learned that Swift had mentioned him on the radio. He said he woke up to the news and first wondered if it was AI. The moment felt unreal enough that he questioned whether the clip was genuine.

For a new act fielding sudden attention, that kind of public mention carries weight. It brings new listeners. It also brings sharper scrutiny, especially in comment sections and on social feeds.

He did not present Swift's advice as a fix for that pressure. He presented it as a way to read it. Criticism, in that telling, can signal that people are paying attention, and the job is to keep moving.