Bob Lefsetz

(Mean)

After completely bashing Taylor's 2010 Grammy performance, Taylor wrote Mean about the blogger (and won a Grammy for it two years later!).

Sources: 1, 2

Mean (Speak Now)

Hidden Message: I Thought You Got Me

Mean is arguably Swift’s most country-sounding song yet and supposedly inspired by critic Bob Leftsetz, a well-known blogger who notably turned on Swift after her Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks. Leftsetz had originally been a supporter of Swift's music. Her response was accompanied by these words: “There is constructive criticism. There's professional criticism. And then, there's just being mean. There's a line that you cross when you just start to attack everything about a person, and there's one guy who just crossed the line over and over again. Just being mean, and saying things that would ruin my day.” In December 2011 Tyson Ritter performed a mash-up of Mean and his song Gives You Hell.

Sources: 1