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← Signal: State & Power

Olivia Rodrigo raises $20m for women's nonprofits at feminist festival; columnist contrasts her activism with Taylor Swift's restraint

Confirmed1 source · Sep 1, 2026

The 23-year-old pop star hosted the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival on Saturday, which raised $10m that Melinda French Gates matched, bringing the total to $20m, while a Guardian columnist argues more celebrities with platforms should follow her lead on social issues.

Olivia Rodrigo raises $20m for women's nonprofits at feminist festival; columnist contrasts her activism with Taylor Swift's restraint
Image via The Guardian

What happened

Olivia Rodrigo hosted the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival on Saturday, bringing together female artists to raise money for women-focused nonprofits that had funding cuts from the Trump administration. The festival raised $10m, which Melinda French Gates matched, bringing the total to $20m. Rodrigo has a track record of public political stances: she condemned the 2022 Roe v. Wade overturn at Glastonbury when she was 19; publicly told the Trump administration not to use her music in their "racist, hateful propaganda" when one of her songs was featured in a government video telling undocumented immigrants to self-deport; posted on Instagram about Gaza conditions; and wore a dress by Palestinian brand Nöl Collective at the festival press conference. In an interview with the New York Times's Popcast, Rodrigo said acknowledging social issues is part of her job as an artist.

Context

The columnist frames Rodrigo's activism against a broader landscape in which wealthy and powerful figures have withdrawn from social justice causes as support became inconvenient, and in which Trump has influenced US institutions to defund diversity programs and media outlets to alter editorial behavior. The significance lies in whether high-profile celebrities with substantial platforms use their reach and resources for advocacy. The columnist contrasts Rodrigo's public stances with Taylor Swift's approach: while Swift endorsed progressive causes in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024, she has been cautious during Trump's second term, reportedly ignoring Trump's use of her songs for months without public statement and remaining quiet on Gaza and immigration enforcement issues. The column suggests that celebrity silence on social issues has become more common among even wealthy progressive figures, making visible activism riskier but potentially more consequential.

What's disputed

The column is an opinion piece by a Guardian columnist making comparative judgments about Swift's activism versus Rodrigo's. The factual elements (festival details, fundraising amounts, Rodrigo's past statements, Swift's endorsements and song usage) are reported, but the interpretation of their significance and the characterization of Swift's choices are the columnist's assessment.