Last summer and perhaps for the first time in Taylor Swift’s years-long career, the pop star came under heavy fire online. Details of her private jet use were made public, and eco-activists were very unhappy to see just how much she’d been flying private, including over distances that could have been covered by car.
In a matter of days from the data going public, Taylor Swift was dubbed “the real climate criminal” and she came under even heavier attack. Things got so heated that her publicist was forced to step forward and issue a correction, saying that Swift’s private jet spent so much time in the air because it was rented to other people. So, while the jet itself came with a huge carbon footprint, it wasn’t because Taylor was necessarily using it.
That same jet, her 2009 Dassault Falcon 7X jet, is causing fresh headaches, according to the latest exclusive from British tabloid The Sun. Unnamed sources claim that the “eco-mob” is coming after Taylor again, this time supposedly leaking the details of her travel plans ahead of her 2023 March world tour. The report is vague at best, mentioning how Swift had invested in tech that would prevent bots from tracking her jet, but she’s still left exposed.
“She is terrified that they are putting a target on her everywhere she goes,” a “pal” says. “Taylor invested loads in the technology and feels she is back to square one.”
Photo: YouTube / Kylie Jenner
An unnamed “protection expert” chimes in to point out that, given Swift’s high public profile, having details like her exact takeoff and landing time posted online is a true security threat. “Her safety is being put at risk under the guise that it is eco-conscious, when in fact it is nothing more than another way to stalk her,” claims the expert.
It goes without saying that the report should be taken with a grain (or even a fistful) of salt, especially since no other detail on the alleged leak is offered. From what we can see, if there is a leak, it’s either been covered up already or it never even registered with the media and the fans.
But the security threat is very real, as even Tesla’s Elon Musk pointed out a while back, when private-jet-tracker Jack Sweeney refused to take down the Twitter page that tracked his (Musk’s) private jet. As much as we the public feel the need for full transparency, and are justified in our criticism against those whose private jet use is needlessly polluting our planet, a line must be drawn. As Musk told Sweeney last year, the risk of being ambushed and maybe getting “shot by a nutcase” is even bigger when your every move is reported on, especially on such a huge platform like social media.
Sure enough, criticizing the likes of Kylie Jenner for flying private for 13 minutes instead of driving for 40 feels justified – all the more so since she’s made a habit of flaunting her private jet use on social media. At this point, criticizing Jenner feels like a must, since it still qualifies as attention to her, and she’s obviously inviting it by being so in-your-face about it.
Photo: YouTube / Kylie Jenner
But if this Taylor Swift leak did occur, when the plan was to use the jet for business, and it’s putting her at risk, then it’s a different kind of game the eco-activists are playing. One in which there are no real winners.
Flying private is bad for the planet, there is no argument about that. At the same time, though, can we really ask people like Taylor or Musk to fly commercial for business, when it would not only cause significant delays to their schedule but also cause hysteria at whichever airport they’d show up to? Can you imagine that? The days of the Beatlemania crowd-mingling are gone, because this kind of exposure has been rendered obsolete and because security threat levels went up.
It’s one thing to want the best for our planet since, duh, we’re all living on it and breathing the same air. But targeting a pop star as she’s preparing for a world tour – which just so happens to be the most in-demand showbiz event of the year, by the way – feels like all those good intentions are misused.
It’s comparable to the same eco-activists targeting works of art to get the big carmakers to stop making ICE (internal combustion engine) models. It’s pointless, and stupid, and dangerous – but most importantly, it will have no immediate, real benefit for the greater cause of helping with climate change.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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