Jealousy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius: Woman who went to school with Taylor Swift claims her fellow students ‘hate her’

A woman who said she went to the same high school as Taylor Swift before she became a superstar has claimed that a lot of the singer’s fellow students ‘hated’ her because they were ‘jealous’ when she started to achieve her music success.

Jessica McLane, now 30, said that she attended Hendersonville High School in Nashville, Tennessee, with Taylor, now 32, for less than a year in 2006 – when she was a freshman and when the popstar was a junior.

Taylor, who grew up Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, moved to Tennessee when she was 14 so she could pursue a career in country music, and she was a student at Hendersonville High School for two-and-a-half years – before she ultimately left to become homeschooled after her career took off.

A woman who said she went to the same school as Taylor Swift before she became a superstar has claimed that a lot of the singer’s fellow students ‘hated’ her because they were ‘jealous.

Jessica McLane, now 30, said that she attended Hendersonville High School in Nashville, Tennessee, with Taylor, now 32, for less than a year in 2006. Taylor is seen as a teenager.

Taylor (seen throughout her childhood), grew up Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and moved to Tennessee when she was 14 so she could pursue a career in country music.

Taylor (seen in her yearbook photo) was a student at Hendersonville High School for two-and-a-half years – before she ultimately left to become homeschooled after her career took off

Now, Jessica has dished on what the Grammy-Award-winning artist was really like before she found fame, claiming that while she herself hardly talked to Taylor, other students told her that she was ‘b***hy.’

Now, Jessica has dished on what the Grammy-Award-winning artist was really like before she found fame, claiming that while she herself hardly talked to Taylor, other students told her that she was ‘b***hy’

‘I went to the same high school as Taylor Swift, we grew up in the same town,’ she said in a viral TikTok video recently, which has been viewed more than 6.4 million times.

‘When she first started becoming super successful, most people hated her. Keep in mind, these are her peers, this isn’t, like, just random people on the internet.

‘There were not a lot of people in high school who had nice things to say about her … There were general rumors about her being b***hy. [People would say], “She said this, she said that, she was mean.”‘

Taylor famously caught the attention of music mogul Scott Borchetta at an industry showcase at Nashville’s Bluebird Café in 2005, and he went on to sign her to Big Machine Records and ultimately helped her launch her massive career.

She released her debut album, called Taylor Swift, in October 2006, and it quickly skyrocketed her into the spotlight, peaking at number five on the US Billboard 200 and staying on the chart for more than 150 weeks.

But as her career took off, Jessica said her ‘jealous’ classmates started to spread vicious rumors that Taylor’s family had ‘bought her fame’ and had bribed Scott with money to get him to sign her to his label.

When she first started becoming successful, most people hated her,’ she said on TikTok. ‘There were not a lot of people in high school who had nice things to say about her’

Taylor (seen in 2006) famously caught the attention of music mogul Scott Borchetta at the Nashville’s Bluebird Café in 2005, and he went on to sign her to Big Machine Records

But as her career took off, Jessica said her ‘jealous’ classmates started to spread vicious rumors that Taylor’s family ‘bought her fame’ and bribed Scott (seen in 2011)

TikTok

She explained that so many other students were ‘trying to break into the industry,’ and that they were filled with envy when Taylor made it and they didn’t.

She added that the guys who inspired some of Taylor’s songs were unhappy after she started releasing music about them, which added fuel to the fire. Taylor’s classmate Drew, who she wrote Teardrops on My Guitar about, is pictured in the yearbook

‘Jealousy was definitely a thing,’ she stated. ‘The 16, 17-year-olds who were trying to have a career in music at Hendersonville were playing downtown or at the local coffee shop, not winning awards.

‘It’s not that these people weren’t talented, it’s just that most people don’t make it. Also, back then, Taylor didn’t have as good of control over her voice as she does now, so there were a lot of people in high school who [felt they] were vocally a lot better.’

She added that the guys who inspired some of Taylor’s songs were unhappy after she started releasing music about them, which added fuel to the fire.

‘Also, the guys she was writing these songs about they were still in school, they were still there,’ she continued.

‘And now they have a hit song about them talking about what a s**ty boyfriend they are, you know?’

Taylor left school months later, and graduated via home schooling – before she went on to become of the most well-known artists on the globe.

Three years later – in 2009 – Jessica recalled Taylor inviting her entire senior class to the Country Music Association Awards. She is seen at the event.

And Jessica believes that the musician only asked her former classmates to attend the event to show them how far she had come. She theorized on TikTok: ‘She invited us to say f**k you’.

When some people accused Jessica of lying about her connection to the famous singer, she fired back by sharing a glimpse at her yearbook, which featured a photo of Taylor

Three years later – in 2009 – Jessica recalled Taylor inviting her entire senior class to the Country Music Association Awards, where she performed her hit song Fifteen and took home four different awards.

It turns out, this isn’t the first time that Taylor’s alleged former classmates have spoken out. Last year, another TikToker, who goes by the username @AloneInLondon, revealed that he too had attended Hendersonville High School with the Cardigan songstress, and he claimed that they even wrote a song together

And Jessica believes that the musician only asked her former classmates to attend the event to show them how far she had come.

‘As we all know, 2009 is the year that she killed the game. She invited us to the CMAs to say f**k you,’ Jessica theorized in her TikTok video. ‘And we deserved it. So to Taylor, touché, that was a good one.’

While some people accused Jessica of lying about her connection to the famous singer in the comment section, she fired back by sharing a glimpse at her yearbook, which featured a photo of Taylor.

It turns out, this isn’t the first time that Taylor’s alleged former classmates have spoken out. Last year, another TikToker, who goes by the username @AloneInLondon, revealed that he too had attended Hendersonville High School with the Cardigan songstress, and he claimed that they even wrote a song together.

‘She randomly showed up in eighth grade and my girlfriend at the time went up and introduced herself and we all became friends,’ he said.

I used to hangout at her house all the time, I have a ton of stories. We wrote a song together in geometry class,’ he dished.

When commenters asked him to elaborate, the TikToker said he wanted to respect her privacy so he wasn’t comfortable sharing too much information. Taylor is seen in 2006

‘I used to hangout at her house all the time, I have a ton of stories. We wrote a song together in geometry class.’

When commenters pressed him and asked him to elaborate, the TikToker said he wanted to respect her privacy so he wasn’t comfortable sharing too much information.

‘These memories and stories are personal things,’ he explained.

However, he did recall one time when he and the singer spent ‘hours’ learning the lyrics to the song Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind.

‘Back then, we couldn’t just type in Semi-Charmed Life lyrics [on Google], we had to learn them ourselves.

‘If you know that song, you know it’s really fast and it’s a lot of words and [the lead singer] slurs his words a lot.

‘So we just sat there with a notebook for two or three hours, deliberating over each word and arguing over what he was saying. That was pretty funny.’