Taylor Swift Under Fire Once Again For New Controversy

Taylor Swift’s private jet activities have come under scrutiny once again as Jack Sweeney, a 21-year-old computer science student and aviation enthusiast, continues to track her flights despite a cease and desist letter from Swift’s legal team.

Swift, who has faced backlash for her carbon footprint due to the frequent use of her jets, found her aviation habits in the headlines after Sweeney’s detailed tracking showed her planes flew 178,000 miles in 2023, roughly the equivalent of circling the globe seven times, emitting about 1,200 tons of CO2.

Despite the potential legal consequences, Sweeney has remained unshaken and recently uploaded a YouTube video showcasing all of Swift’s flights from the past year. The release of the video comes after a stern warning from Swift’s lawyers in December, stressing the serious safety concerns arising from his activities.

“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,” the letter stated, referencing Swift’s long history of dealing with stalkers. Swift’s spokesperson further connected Sweeney’s activities to a security incident involving an arrested stalker at Swift’s residence in Manhattan.

However, Sweeney, who also tracks other celebrities like Elon Musk, Kylie Jenner, and Kim Kardashian, views his work as raising awareness rather than a personal attack. “Nothing [has happened]. I’m not really surprised,” Jack said to The Sun. “It’s pretty much like with Elon, you know, they’ll say something to intimidate the smaller person. “It’s the attention they’re getting that they don’t like,” Sweeney commented on the celebrity responses to his tracking. “I like it – that it brings awareness.”

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Sweeney was first known for creating a Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s private jet using publicly available data. He gained significant media attention for his actions, particularly when Musk reached out to him, asking him to take down the account due to privacy concerns. Sweeney’s account provided updates on the location and movements of Musk’s jet, which raised discussions on privacy, security, and public information.

Interestingly, Swift does not rank in the top 10 of celebrities with the highest private jet usage in 2023. The list is topped by Travis Scott, Kim Kardashian, and Elon Musk, indicating that while Swift’s jet use is substantial, it is not the most egregious among her peers.

via The Sun

In response to the ongoing controversy, there has been a noticeable decrease in the use of Swift’s private jets, with reports suggesting she now prefers charter flights, possibly to avoid further tracking. The change might be a direct consequence of the negative publicity.

“There’s so many people, it’s not really a competition for who’s the biggest polluter,” Sweeney explained. “The one jet [of Taylor’s] that is used is maybe every couple of weeks now just between Tennessee and California. Since this new year, she’s not always used the jet for tour dates.” Sweeney, undeterred by the celebrity pushback, plans to continue his work and is even preparing a new video detailing Elon Musk’s flights from the past year.

Sweeney suggested that Taylor’s choice to use charter jets for her European tour might be influenced by various factors. “It could be that reason [of negative publicity], or it could be that the charter jet is nicer, a bit faster, and can go further,” he explains. He believes identifying her charter won’t be challenging if she continues this pattern for the European segment of her tour starting next month.

“If it’s just in two locations where it’s Nashville and some European location, how many people are leaving Nashville [for Europe] on a charter?” Jack pointed out. He added that tracking such movements has become a community effort: “Most people, even without me, are doing it now, there’s people posting on Reddit.”