Generally in the US it is assumed, I think, that if a public figure doesn't make an occasional comment about public events, then they are in favor of the status quo, which is itself a political statement. So, I'm not clear on what what a public figure "without politics" could look like.
I mean Taylor Swift managed to dodge the idea of politics for years (it was an explicit strategy because of what happened to the Dixie Chicks), but eventually people started directly asking questions, and saying "I don't want to comment on this thing my fans feel strongly about" is pretty bad for business I guess.
I don't know, is my confusion. It just strikes me as weird, rhetorically, to claim that avoiding politics is one of the key strategies to gain a fandom when equally fervent fandoms have been built on explicitly political pop stars. I don't understand how to put these two together.
I mean Taylor Swift managed to dodge the idea of politics for years (it was an explicit strategy because of what happened to the Dixie Chicks), but eventually people started directly asking questions, and saying "I don't want to comment on this thing my fans feel strongly about" is pretty bad for business I guess.