Though he may be just 21 years old, Jack Sweeney has already found himself in a very unenviable position, having full-on “Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift after documenting her private jet usage on social media.
In late December, Swift’s legal team hit Sweeney, a junior at the University of Central Florida who runs several celebrity jet-tracking accounts on social media. including the now-removed @elonmuskjet, with a cease and desist letter, accusing his (since-removed) page @taylorswiftjets of causing “direct and irreparable harm” to the singer and forcing her to live in a “constant state of fear for her personal safety.”
A University of Central Florida student says Taylor Swift’s attorneys sent him a cease and desist letter asking him to stop tracking her private jet.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 6, 2024
The letter said the student's actions are "reckless" and it is "a life-of-death matter” for Swift. https://t.co/CqrazMjZgu
“While this may be a game to you, or an avenue that you hope will earn you wealth or fame, it is a life-or-death matter for our Client,” wrote Swift’s attorney, Katie Wright Morrone, in a letter sent to Sweeney’s parents, before alleging that there was “no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.”
“If you fail to adhere to these demands immediately, and by no later than close of business on December 26, 2023, or if you continue to publish information that threatens our Client’s safety, she will have no choice but to pursue any and all legal remedies available to her,” the note concluded. “We will not hesitate to escalate this matter as needed.”
no wonder her team is trying to ban this flight tracking LMFAOOO https://t.co/DqD3jlPks7
— Bob (@emptytesticles) February 7, 2024
But even with this terrifying legalese, Sweeney maintained his innocence, stating that not only does he “actually like some of Swift’s songs,” but noting that he never intended to “cause harm.”
“I believe in the importance of transparency and public information, seemingly more so than Meta,” he said in a statement sent to eBaum’s World, explaining that the social network service banned his page, @taylorswiftjets, “on Instagram, Threads and Facebook.”
Considering the removals came “only hours” after he received Swift’s letter and that none of his other pages — a collection including @celebrityjets, @kimkjet @kyliejennerjet, and “most importantly” @zuckerbergjets — were impacted.
“This means Swift's team also sent threats to Meta, later apparently confirmed by insiders,” he wrote.
But the tech giant’s alleged involvement in the pages’ disappearance is just the tip of the iceberg. Alongside the cease and desist letter’s very coincidental timing — “this letter surfaced days after headlines criticized her jet use and its carbon emissions,” he noted — Sweeney argued that despite the note’s claims, there was, in fact, quite a bit of interest surrounding the page.
“Swift’s team suggests that I have no legitimate interest in sharing jet information, which is fundamentally incorrect,” he explained. “Her fans, who have grown the TaylorSwiftJets accounts and subreddit, are the ones truly interested.”
The concern over Swift’s private jet usage reached a fever pitch last week, as several Swifties expressed concerns over whether the artist would have enough time after her Eras Tour performance in Tokyo, Japan on February 10 to return to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch her beau, Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce, play in Super Bowl LVIII come February 11.
“When the Embassy of Japan in the USA expresses confidence that Swift can make a flight from Tokyo to the Super Bowl, it indicates public interest,” he added. “Therefore, one should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I’m the one doing it, as it is public information after all.”
Statement from the Embassy of Japan on Taylor Swift’s Reported Travel from Japan to the United States ✈️ Are you ready for it? pic.twitter.com/wFKadehTJk
— Japan Embassy DC (@JapanEmbDC) February 2, 2024
But considering the artist’s apparent privacy concerns, Sweeney still has questions — namely, surrounding why neither Swift nor her team have taken a few critical steps in their pursuit of treating the star’s “privacy and safety” with the “uttermost importance.”
Beyond registering the jet “to a trust like TVPX or Bank of Utah Trustee” instead of an LLC boasting the initials of Swift’s Immediately family members — SATA LLC, he alleged, stands for “Scott, Andrea, Taylor, Austin” — Sweeney suggested that the artist consider refraining from emblazoning personal information on the aircraft itself.
“Don’t register the tail number as a resemblance to who you are,” he said, noting that her current tail number, N898TS “clearly is showing off that it’s Taylor Swift” as “the numbers are her birthday and initials.
Taylor Swift's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to college student Jack Sweeney that blamed his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers about her location. https://t.co/1twZa8M4wU
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 7, 2024
But regardless of whether or not Sweeney’s Twitter page is able to live on despite this intimidating correspondence, one thing is for sure: As @ali_sivi so aptly observed, “cease and desist would be beautiful names for twin baby girls.”
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