ENTERTAINMENT
Why is Taylor Swift threatening to sue a student in Florida?
The “Blank Space” singer’s carbon footprint has gained media attention in recent times and is at the centre of a dispute with Jack Sweeney.
Much has been made about whether Taylor Swift will be able to make it from Tokyo, Japan to Las Vegas in time to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce play at Super Bowl LVIII, although it appears as if not everyone approves of her private jet use. The “Shake It Off” singer’s attorneys are threatening to sue a colleague student in Florida for tracking her activity in the air using bots.
Who is Jack Sweeney? Why is he on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list?
Jack Sweeney, who studies at the University of Central Florida, has earned praise and a place on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for his work, which uses publicly available data from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and broadcast signals from aircrafts. Rather than just targeting Swift, Sweeney has used social media to highlight the environmental impact of private air travel by a number of high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, who banned Sweeney’s “ElonJet” bot from Twitter in 2022.
It has now come to light that the Eras Tour star is equally unimpressed, with her attorneys sending a cease-and-desist letter to Mr Sweeney in December demanding he stop sharing the location of her private jet.
A “life-of-death matter” for Swift
According to the letter, as per the Washington Post, Sweeney’s “stalking and harassing behaviour” is a “life-or-death matter” for Swift, whose camp told British newspaper The Guardian they “cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation but can confirm the timing of stalkers suggests a connection. His posts tell you exactly when and where she would be.”
Eras Tour star’s carbon footprint
Sweeney, meanwhile, told the Post that he simply believed in “transparency and public information” and claimed the data published is already in the public domain, like a publicised concert schedule. “I actually think Swift has some good songs,” the 21-year-old told the BBC, although that doesn’t appear to override his concern about her private jet’s carbon footprint, which a 2022 study by digital marketing company Yard showed was higher than any other celebrity.
The Asian leg of Swift’s Eras Tour is due to begin on Wednesday (7 February) in Tokyo and she is expected to fly back to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl on Sunday (11 February) before jetting out to Melbourne for seven concerts in Australia before the end of the month.