COMMENT: Taylor-Kimye drama is an unnerving narrative on bullying

I'm going to be really honest here: showbiz junkie I may be, but I have never had a 'team'.

I don't have any particular grá for Taylor Swift, nor hatred of Kim Kardashian. There was a time when I hailed Kanye West as one of the great musical geniuses of our time, but my opinion of him soured somewhere around the time that he began referring to himself as a god.

Impartial as I may be towards the 'squads' of Hollywood, there is one thing I can say with utter conviction: the leaking of Taylor Swift's telephone conversation, and the subsequent tide of abuse it sparked on social media has left me horrified, concerned and sick to my stomach.

Now, I know only too well that those are strong words to use in relation to people I don't know personally, and a story that is considered by many to be tabloid fodder – but if there is one thing I can recognise and relate to, it's bullying.

At this stage, it doesn't really matter which lyrics were or were not approved; the second that video was shared online, this conversation switched from celebrity 'beef' to a full-on witch-hunt, with Kim and Kanye holding the torch.

This video did more than vindicate Kim and Kanye (although we have yet to hear Taylor give her approval to the 'bitch' lyrics) – it threw out ammo to the blood-thirsty nay-sayers who have been on Taylor Swift's tail since sometime between her ill-fated romance with Harry Styles and becoming the highest paid celebrity in the world.

Sure, Kim can say that she was just standing up for her man, but her delight in the blazing reaction across social media took it a step further. This was viewed by her – and so many others – as an achievement.

Kim seemed amused – no, proud – as Taylor got trolled with snake emojis on Instagram, as the 'Taylor Swift Party Is Over' hashtag began to trend on Twitter, as a 'RIP Taylor Swift' mural was created in Melbourne. And those who partook in the trolling found the entire thing as thrilling as they did entertaining.

How messed up is that?

As I read the various articles and social media updates, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be on the receiving end of this tidal wave of abuse and hatred; having people delight in my supposed 'downfall'. After all, she's just a young woman – what has she done to deserve all the hate; to have people waiting with baited breath for her to fail?

Is it because she's had a string of boyfriends? If that's the case, half the population is doomed the next time they put a toe out of line. Is it because she seems too sweet to be wholesome? Is it because she's too successful for the rest of the world to stomach?

I don't know why people hate Taylor Swift. All I know is that I hope she is in the right frame of mind right now, and has the right people around her; because I can imagine there's nothing quite like having the misplaced hatred and animosity of the world upon you to send you over the edge to a dark place.

You can say she got what was coming to her; you can say she lied to the world while collecting that Grammy; you can say that calling Kanye's sex lyric a 'compliment' was weird (I know I do);  but you cannot say that all that justifies the rabid persecution Taylor Swift has endured this week.

Now, there are some who believe that this whole thing is an elaborate PR stunt from the Kardashians – if this is the case, shame on that entire family. And of the suggestion that Taylor is in on it too, all I can say is that I hope it's part of some hard-hitting awareness campaign on the damages and dangers of bullying. 

As for Khloe's attack on Chloe Grace Moretz – I think Ruby Rose summed up what we were all thinking.

This has gone way beyond celebrity beef, a song or a telephone call; this Taylor-Kimye situation is one of the most candid and uncomfortably real narratives we have to date on cyber-bullying, and all those who participated need to give themselves a long, unfiltered look in the mirror.