Abercrombie Pulls Taylor Swift T-Shirt After Fan Backlash

This Taylor Swift tee was pulled from Abercrombie shelvesAbercrombie & Fitch's string of bad presscontinues as a new T-shirt has sparked outrage from Taylor Swift's feverishly protective fans. The slogan tee reads, "#more boyfriends than t.s."—poking fun at the 23-year-old singer's love life.

Petition Urges Abercrombie & Fitch to Change Its Anti-Plus-Size Stance

On June 18, Emma Worley of Herminie, Pennsylvania posted a petition on Change.orgthat quickly made waves throughout the Taylor Swift fan community. Soon the "Swifties" had amassed 130 signatures from around the world—not a huge number but enough to prompt the brand to pull the shirts. "We [distributed] the shirt at the end of February and it is no longer available," A&F told Yahoo! Shine.

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The Swifties are all fired up. Their heroine is one of the more positive role models out there for kids, so why is Abercrombie picking on her, and why does the company feel that it can comment on her relationships?  Here is just a sampling of the negative feedback posted on Change.org:

"Taylor Swift modeled for Abercrombie, and they have the nerve to make fun of her on one of their t-shirts?" — Brenna Bode, Nebraska

"No way you [should] be labeled this way for having a few boyfriends." — Terry Brenner, Australia

"This tee is essentially promoting bullying and it is absolutely disgusting. Bullying is not a matter which should be taken lightly, especially by popular brands such as A&F." — Chloe Jobson, UK

"This is so hurtful to us. I can't believe this. I will NEVER buy anything from Abercrombie & Fitch EVER again." — Karissa Lacroix, Canada

"It's just plain hurtful and insulting. Taylor's private life should remain so. It's unprofessional for such a huge company to insult and poke fun at a celebrity in one of their t-shirts. Besides, none of them knows exactly what goes on in Taylor's private life. She herself said that she's only dated two men in the past two years, which isn't a lot. The media exaggerates Taylor's past relationships A LOT. It's a form of bullying, which should never be encouraged, ESPECIALLY by such a huge company. I'm disgusted and have lost all my respect for Abercrombie and Fitch." — Anushree Jayan, Singapore

Taylor Swift modeled for the Abercrombie Rising Stars campaign a decade agoOn Twitter, A&F quickly backpedaled, writing, "Hey #swifties we no longer sell the tshirt. We love Taylor's music and think she's awesome."

We spoke with a representative from Change.org about the uproar. "This petition has been getting quite a lot of attention over the past few days," Communications Manager Aften Lay told Yahoo! Shine. "The Swifties are an impressive and effective fan base, aren't they? Emma's petition is a part of a strong trend that we've been seeing on Change.org. Consumers are using Change.org to hold companies responsible for the products they produce and for the messages they're sending to youth and they're demanding action."

Just last month another Change.org petition drew national attention after urging A&F to change its anti-plus-size stance. The brand's CEO, Mike Jeffrieseventually apologized on A&F's public Facebook page, claiming, We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics." Back in 2003, the company's catalog was discontinued when outraged subscribers criticized the simulated-sex images it contained.