Pop superstar Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president shortly after the presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
She signed the post, “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” referencing 2021 comments made by Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
This isn’t the first time Swift has ventured into politics; she previously endorsed President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
After Swift’s endorsement of Harris, people began circulating claims online alleging backlash to her announcement.
Some social media posts claim Swift canceled dates on her record-breaking Eras Tour due to low ticket sales after the endorsement. One viral Facebook post and a Threads post include a meme with side-by-side photos of Harris and Swift paired with this text: “Taylor Swift Cancels Eras Tour Dates After Endorsement Backlash: ‘Only 2,300 Tickets Sold.’”
Other posts claimed Swift lost brand endorsement deals worth $125 million after announcing support for Harris and that Trump responded to the endorsement by posting “I hate Taylor Swift” on social media.
Multiple VERIFY readers asked us to look into whether Trump posted that message, as well as the claims about Swift canceling concert dates and losing brand deals. Here’s what we found.
QUESTION #1
Did Taylor Swift cancel Eras Tour dates due to low ticket sales following her endorsement of Harris?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, Swift did not cancel her Eras Tour dates due to low ticket sales following her endorsement of Harris.
WHAT WE FOUND
Swift has not canceled any of her remaining Eras Tour dates. The rumor stems from a satirical article published by esspots.com on Sept. 14, 2024.
None of Swift’s social media accounts or Ticketmaster’s website include any announcements about the pop star canceling any remaining tour dates.
Her official website still lists nine upcoming concerts in the U.S. starting on Oct. 18 followed by nine more shows in Canada. The record-breaking tour is set to end in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Dec. 8, 2024.
As has been the case for Swift’s entire Eras Tour, all of the tickets to her shows quickly sold out and fans who didn’t manage to snag them can only purchase them through resellers.
The false claims about Swift canceling her Eras Tour dates stem from a satirical article published by esspots.com, which says it is a subsidiary of spacexmania.com “specializing in satire and parody news.” Spacexmania.com also publishes many satirical articles.
SpaceX Fan Club included a link to the esspots.com article in the comment section of its viral post sharing the false claim about Swift. That article is clearly labeled as “satire” and includes a disclaimer at the end that says, “NOTE: This is SATIRE, Not True.”
The meme in SpaceX Fan Club’s Facebook post is also clearly labeled as satire in the upper left corner and includes text in small print that says, “Nothing on this page is real. If you believe anything we post then you’re a potato crop.”
SpaceX Fan Club’s page introduction includes this disclaimer: “We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.”
VERIFY reached out to Swift’s team about the viral online claims but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
QUESTION #2
Did Taylor Swift lose $125 million in brand deals after endorsing Harris?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, Swift did not lose $125 million in brand deals after endorsing Harris.
WHAT WE FOUND
There’s no evidence Swift lost $125 million in brand deals after endorsing Harris. This rumor also stems from a satirical article published by esspots.com on Sept. 14, 2024.
SpaceX Fan Club also shared this viral claim on its Facebook page on Sept. 12. The post’s comments section includes a link to another satirical article published by esspots.com.
This article is also clearly labeled as satire and includes the same disclaimer as the previous satirical article about Swift canceling her Eras Tour dates.
SpaceX Fan Club also included the same “rated satire” label and text in small print on the meme attached to the post.
QUESTION #3
Did Donald Trump post “I hate Taylor Swift” on social media after Swift endorsed Harris?
THE SOURCES
- Sept. 15 post on Donald Trump’s official Truth Social account
- News reports published by the Washington Post and CBS
THE ANSWER
Yes, Trump did post “I hate Taylor Swift” on social media after Swift endorsed Harris.
WHAT WE FOUND
VERIFY searched Donald Trump’s official Truth Social account and found that the former president did post the message circulating on social media after Swift endorsed Harris.
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump wrote in a post on Sept. 15. He did not share the same message on his official X account or Facebook page.
Multiple reputable news outlets published stories on Trump’s message about Trump’s Truth Social post directed at Swift.
In response to Swift’s endorsement of Harris, Trump also told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, Sept. 11, that Swift is “a very liberal person” who “seems to always endorse a Democrat and she’ll probably pay a price in the marketplace.”
The former president previously shared AI-generated images of Swift to falsely suggest she endorsed him. Swift said in her Instagram post supporting Harris that these AI images were one of the reasons she decided to publicly endorse the vice president.
“Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” Swift wrote.
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