But I will say this, a movement can't get along without a devil, and across the whole political spectrum there is a misogynistic tendency to choose a female devil, whether it's Anita Bryant, Hillary Clinton, Marie Antoinette, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or J.K. Rowling [or Taylor Swift]. And there's always gonna be people who seize on any opportunity to be misogynistic. So I would advise trans people and our allies [or environmentalists] to keep in mind, that J.K. Rowling [Taylor Swift] is not the final boss of transphobia [anti-environmentalism]. She's not our devil. The devil is the Republican Party, the Conservative Party.

—Natalie Wynn (emphasis and bracket text mine)

edit: if you can’t respond to this without using the c*nt expletive it is not helping your case lmao. mods are we okay with this? in any case, please don’t feed the trolls.

edit 2/FAQ: “but why did she threaten legal action against that college kid though?” still shitty, but refer to this comment for a good explanation of the context behind that decision.

She only threatened legal action since those memes started before when her flight movements got the attention of the right in an attempt to make her less credible of a voice speaking out against trump. And knowing how batshit insane trump cultists can be and how she’s basically the single most hated person of his base I’m not surprised that she feared for her security. Those records were public for years but the legal action only happened after someone created that meme and even fox news suddenly cared about plane emissions…

and another good comment

[…] For Swift, this is legitimate fear. I don't know if you've ever experienced actual fear for your life, but it's crippling, and it effects your psyche. To experience that on a daily basis because of an app? You bet your goddamn ass I'm going to talk to my lawyers about what my options are.

sources/timeline for the above:

mid 2022, the media begins scrutinizing Swift for her flying patterns
- in response, Swift’s jet drops from 19 to just over 2 flights per month
- her flights pick up slightly with the start of her massive Eras tour but still significantly less than pre-July 2022
December 6, 2023, Swift embroiled in election conspiracy theory, basically making her MAGA’s enemy number one.
January 30, 2024, Taylor Swift gets rid of one private jet
February 6, 2024, news outlets first report on the cease and desist.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 170 points 8 months ago (5 children)

Stop trying to make this about Swift being a woman.

She's getting all this attention about it because her legal team sent a cease and desist letter to the guy tracking her jet threatening him with legal action over priding publically available tracking information.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 29 points 8 months ago (11 children)

How does this make her "actions wrong"? Because you disagree?

Yes, it's legal for him to do what he's doing, but it is also legal (and completely reasonable) for Swift to challenge that right because she fears for her safety. This is literally what our legal system is for.

There are a lot of insane people out there (and most of them tracking Swift's plane at this moment are right wing psychopaths that wish her harm). I really can't fucking blame her for wanting to do something about it.

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 56 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

So you think it's perfectly moral for the ultra wealthy to abuse the legal system to threaten and bully random people into submission because they are ruining the billionaires image?

And again to reiterate, this is all publically available information, anyone who wants to track her jet can do so without the tracker that guy set up. She has no legal standing in her actions.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (7 children)

So you think it’s perfectly moral for the ultra wealthy to abuse the legal system to threaten and bully random people into submission because they are ruining the billionaires image?

Lol yeah bud, that's what I said.

Dude, I understand it's public information. I understand that current law (probably rightfully) allows air traffic to be tracked, including private jets.

I was simply doing something that you're clearly incapable of, and empathizing (you remember empathy right?) with her position. A position that is markedly different than Musk's, given that she receives a constant stream of legitimate death threats from people known to be violent; she has valid reason to fear for her life right now. I think I would probably do similar in such a situation.

I don't think it's "wrong" for her to seek to do what she can to protect herself, and that includes this.

The argument that "what they're doing is legal" is pretty stupid too... I'm not even saying that I disagree that it should be legal, but how do you think laws change? The boundaries of them get tested in courts. This is not an abuse of the legal system, this is using it as intended.

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 24 points 8 months ago (8 children)

Lol yeah bud, that’s what I said.

That is in fact, literarily, what you are saying and what you are continuing to say in the rest of your comment.

I was simply doing something that you’re clearly incapable of, and empathizing (you remember empathy right?) with her position.

Oh wont somebody please empathise with the poor billionaires that are using the insane wealth to bully people for criticising their insane over-use of private jets.

You guys are doing actual mental backflips to try and make Taylor Swift the victim here and its honestly just kind of sad.

given that she receives a constant stream of legitimate death threats from people known to be violent

And those people could find that same PUBLICALLY AVAILABLE information even without the guy's tracker. So even if he did take it down, she is in literally no better position when it comes to stalkers.

Literally all getting him to take down the website does is stop people from criticising how much she uses her jet, which hurts her image. Thats it.

Like if she ACTUALLY cared that much about being tracked and her safety she could just charter private jets instead of owning her own. That way no one could track her. But she doesnt, because its not about her safety, its about her image.

This is not an abuse of the legal system, this is using it as intended.

Lmao swift stans are actually neurotic.

load more comments (8 replies)

load more comments (6 replies)

load more comments (10 replies)

[–] deaf_fish@lemm.ee 28 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Na, she is getting this attention because some very powerful people, who benefit from producing a lot of greenhouse gases, would prefer that everyone be mad at T Swift instead of them.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 8 months ago (2 children)

And then they ask why men get disillusioned from the left.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] iAmTheTot@kbin.social 128 points 8 months ago (8 children)

Levying valid criticism on someone is not scapegoating. You can criticize more than one person for the same thing.

[–] Geobloke@lemmy.world 58 points 8 months ago (5 children)

You can, but no one is

[–] fhqwgads@possumpat.io 65 points 8 months ago (3 children)

No one memed on Elon when he shut down his tracker? Or Kylie Jenner for the 3 minute flight?

[–] Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world 37 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

Taylor has long had criticism for her jet use, the meme explosion is just about the media wanting to use her as hype prop while at the same time her team sued to shutdown the flight tracker kid. Posts that seem obsessed with possible damage to Taylor’s reputation sound like it is coming from a PR firm. Does Op genuinely believe that someone sees a Jet Meme and think differently of Taylor? Is Op against Taylor being the poster child for Aviation reform? I do not understand why an uninterested third party feels the need to prevent Taylor from suffering consequences of her actions merely because other heads should roll first.

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 19 points 8 months ago

Totally no one memed Jeff Bezos nor Zark Muckerberg nor Tonald Drump. No one.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] BluesF@lemmy.world 49 points 8 months ago (6 children)

The only reason this has blown up is because she threatened that tracker with legal action. It's the Streisand effect 100%. The same shit happend when Elon Musk shut down the account that was tracking him.

load more comments (6 replies)

[–] VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Musk gets far worse said about him.

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Poppa_Mo@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This isn't wrong, but the uptick in these memes coincides ridiculously with Trumps recent desire to latch on to her name.

The narrative is constantly being spun by these fucking goons.

[–] 474D@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago (9 children)

The uptick is due to her threatening legal action against the flight tracker dude and being all over TV for football this season. I find it hard to believe the trumpers give a shit about the environment. But I suppose they could hop on the bandwagon if it fits their "enemy"

load more comments (9 replies)

load more comments (6 replies)

[–] ninpnin@sopuli.xyz 83 points 8 months ago (2 children)

in response to public pressure, Swift recently cut back on private flights and downsized to one jet

So the memes worked?

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 76 points 8 months ago

She donated one of her private jets to an underprivileged kid who didn't have any private jets.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

yep! the memes worked over a year ago. see my sources below. my concern is that the memes are spiking now when the joke has already made a difference. again, this is all valid criticism in a vacuum! but i encourage folks to consider how much the MAGA crowd has latched onto Swift as their “female devil.”

24 flights per month at the beginning of 2022

12(ish) flights per month at the beginning of 2023 while she kicked off her massive eras tour

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] TeenieBopper@lemmy.world 70 points 8 months ago (13 children)

I just... I can't bring myself to give a shit about Taylor Swift's airplanes when BP and Shell still exist and capitalism is still the dominant economic system.

load more comments (13 replies)

[–] Clbull@lemmy.world 69 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

I mean it's hilarious that we pilloried Elon Musk for trying to sue someone for tracking his private jet with publicly available records and posting this online, but the same people are defending Taylor Swift for doing the same.

I don't think it's a gender bias so much as it's a bias towards people we don't like.

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 16 points 8 months ago

It's like saying people did it with Elon Musk because he is African.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] casual_turtle_stew_enjoyer@sh.itjust.works 55 points 8 months ago

Wtf does this have to do with her gender? Are you claiming she does not top the charts in celebrity carbon emissions, but is being used as the scapegoat instead of a man?

The Conservatives aren't attacking her because of her gender, it's because of their influence. Misogyny has nothing to do with it, they'd do the exact same with any celebrity of any identity/orientation because they're influence conflicts with their agenda, not because of their gender.

This smells a lot like ground-laying for radical feminist arguments, I can't find any other reason you would be here making a mountain out of an imaginary anthill. Moreover, I can't understand why anyone upvoting this would care to see a non-humorous PSA in a "hello fellow teens" vaporware frame on a surrealist/(whatever it's called) shitposting community unless it is meant to be satire.

[–] schnokobaer@lemmy.ml 48 points 8 months ago (8 children)

It's a valid criticism, I'm just wondering where 90% of those folks criticizing were the last 10 years, when it would have also been a valid criticism against her, but only a select group of people called it out and I recall precisely zero memes on this specific topic. Curious, that this has only become a mainstream meme now that there is a defamation campaign actively being conducted against her by right wing media.

[–] Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works 33 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Because most people don’t give a shit about her until she’s in the news and she was recently all over the news?

I remember people making jokes about it last year on reddit too, so they only come up when she becomes relevant to most of us.

I find the whole “you’re just criticising a billionaire because she’s a woman” angle or “it’s because right wing smear campaign” to be much more sus. Obvs some PR firm working overtime to frame negative remarks about her as something more sinister.

Her, musk, and any other billionaire deserves to be eaten. No remorse for these shitscum.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] beardown@lemm.ee 23 points 8 months ago

All billionaires are evil. That includes all female billionaires

load more comments (6 replies)

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 37 points 8 months ago (84 children)

I'm really of two minds on the private jet thing, because she undeniably was doing it way too much and for way too short distances, but for longer distances, I can see someone of her level of fame needing to fly privately for security reasons. I doubt Taylor Swift walking through an airport and getting on a Delta flight would be especially safe for her.

I do not like the idea of celebrities traveling in private jets overall, but when you're at Beatles-level fame? The Beatles chartered private flights too. Maybe she should charter, but I can see why flying commercial is a bad plan.

Let the mass downvoting commence.

load more comments (84 replies)

[–] drunkosaurus@kbin.social 33 points 8 months ago (11 children)

Remember when Taylor Swift urged her audience to go out and vote? I can't escape the feeling that riffing constantly on her carbon footprint is a retaliation for that. They finally found something about her to latch on to.

load more comments (11 replies)

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 27 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

Yeah, criticizing the Rolling Stones in 2024 is totally equivalent to criticizing Taylor Swift, yeah let's pivot right to that. Ignore the fact that she's arguably the most popular musician on earth right now, just played a major cultural event, and all recent events.... no, let's go back to a washed up classic rock band and meme on them instead. Yeah, that'll work.

Fucking Swifties dude.....

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 31 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

honestly, for me personally? the fact a “washed up classic rock band,” as you put it, is outputting more CO2 than an actually-relevant Swift? that’s a huge difference and reason to be all the more critical of The Rolling Stones. like what are they even doing all that for lol.

i criticize both and defend neither.

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] lessthanluigi@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Well, there is Dexter Holland (Lead singer of The Offspring) that flys his own private jet. So you can yell at him now

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Pilgrim@beehaw.org 20 points 8 months ago

I agree with the general idea here, but when I started following the Swift jet tracker after the Superbowl, I saw her make two flights that next day. Seems to me, some people are taking a whole hell of a lot while the rest of us are left with scraps.

[–] Pohl@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago (12 children)

I’m not sure I fully understand the criticism to be perfectly honest. Is it actually possible to have a mega pop star of that type without them having a more intensive carbon footprint? Like she can’t really fly commercially for a lot of reasons. Tour schedules are one thing but can you imagine the scene it would make?

Fame is really just letting one person, who we consider special for some reason, use the resources of many. They get to live an extravagant lifestyle and we get the cultural benefit their work.

Bottom line: private jet travel seems to me like a requirement of her job. I’m not about to sit here and shame everyone for the carbon output that their job requires of them. She is not some capital class, passive income, leech. The lady works.

FWIW, I don’t really think I could name or identify one of her songs. Everything I know about her is what bleeds through into my media sphere. She could be a real shitheal for all I know.

[–] kautau@lemmy.world 42 points 8 months ago (5 children)

The issue isn’t that she has a private jet or uses it, it’s that it’s used for 13 minute flights.

https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-private-jet-jack-sweeney-flights-1868272

And also, that someone built software to show publicly available data on how inefficient the use of her jet is, and then her team threatened legal action against them

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/06/taylor-swift-jet-tracking-legal-threat/

Her jet was 28 miles from it’s destination, the president of the United States still travels that destination by vehicle (granted it’s a motorcade) but still far more environmentally friendly than burning fossil fuels in a jet to hop over to the next airport

load more comments (5 replies)

load more comments (11 replies)

[–] pigup@lemmy.world 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's funny because she is not a plane or made of planes, or brushes her teeth with airliners, but the funny pictures say that she is lol

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] recklessengagement@lemmy.world 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I like this format for public address

Your points have been heard and my opinion has been swayed

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Napain@lemmy.ml 16 points 8 months ago

yeah, they only meme about her because she is a threat to the maga crowd

load more comments