Taylor Swift’s Private Jet Tracking Lawsuit Renews Scrutiny of Her Carbon Emissions
Taylor Swift is threatening legal action against a college student who has been persistently tracking her private jet. However, the conversation around Swift’s jet has renewed scrutiny over her carbon emissions.
It’s well known that Swift has become one of the most successful and influential celebrities in recent years. Unfortunately, her rise to the status of a pop culture icon has come with some drawbacks. Due to living a highly publicized and scrutinized life, Swift has had issues with multiple stalkers over the years. She has had several scary incidents involving obsessive male stalkers who harassed her, sent death threats to her, her family, and her recording label, and tried, or even succeeded, in breaking into her home on multiple occasions. Recently, an unidentified man spent weeks loitering outside her New York apartment. Although unsettled residents reported him to the police numerous times over the course of several weeks, an arrest wasn’t made until he actually tried to enter her home.
There are many factors that contribute to the stalking threat. Due to tour schedules and special events and appearances, anyone can get a basic idea of a celebrity’s movements. Meanwhile, the media has been known to over-report on Swift’s every move, often releasing photos and articles about where she was last sighted and when. However, Swift and her team are also concerned that a Florida college student is enabling stalkers by tracking and publishing details about her private jet.
Taylor Swift sends cease-and-desist letter to jet tracker
Jack Sweeney is a junior studying information technology at the University of Central Florida. Since he was in high school, he has been engaged in an unusual enterprise: tracking the private jets of celebrities. At one point, he had over 30 separate social media accounts publishing information about celebrities’ private jets, including details about landings, takeoffs, and carbon emissions. Two of his most popular accounts are those dedicated to Swift and Elon Musk.
On the X account Taylor Swift Jets (Tracking), Swift’s private jet trips are posted within 24 hours of the flight. The most recent Tweets detail a trip her plane took from East St. Louis, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, including how long the flight took, which airports the plane utilized, and an estimation of the carbon emissions generated. According to Sweeney, he tracks the aircraft solely by utilizing ADS-B data, the records of which are publicly available. He specified his process in a post to X.
Sweeney has been in trouble before when Musk deemed his activity a “security threat” and offered him $5,000 to take down the Twitter account tracking Musk’s jet. The student countered by asking Musk for $50,000 and a Model 3 Tesla before his account was suspended. However, Sweeney has continued to operate multiple accounts across social media platforms to continue the tracking.
What Sweeney is doing is not illegal since he relies on public information and maintains that anyone can track a private jet, but he could be facing a lawsuit from Swift soon. Last December, her lawyers sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter. The letter described his activity as “stalking and harassing behavior” that left Swift fearing for her safety. It read, “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. Ms. Swift has dealt with stalkers and other individuals who wish her harm.” If Sweeney doesn’t heed the notice, Swift’s team could take further action by filing a lawsuit against the student.
However, Sweeney doesn’t appear to be backing down. He has secured an attorney, James Slater, who argues that his activity constitutes “protected speech” and “does not violate any of Ms. Swift’s legal rights.”
Taylor Swift’s carbon emissions
One valid function of Sweeney’s activity is that it forces celebrities to be transparent about their private jet activity and its environmental impact by estimating the carbon emissions of each flight. In 2022, Swift was listed as the #1 CO2e offender by We Are Yard. It’s very difficult to talk about her private jet in any capacity without addressing this glaring fact. According to We Are Yard, from just January to July 2022, Swift managed to wrack up 22,923 minutes in the air across 170 flights, with flight emissions coming in at an estimated 8,293.54 tonnes—a bigger carbon footprint than the average American could amass in five lifetimes.
At the time, Swift’s representatives argued that her plane was loaned out to others and not every trip could be attributed to her. However, it’s difficult to verify this, given that even Sweeney’s reports don’t reveal who is onboard the plane. Even with others allegedly using her aircraft, there’s still strong evidence of unnecessary use. For example, the average flight time was just 80 minutes or 140 miles. One flight lasted a mere 36 minutes. Does one really have to hop in a private jet every time they have any distance to travel? Surely, these celebrities could opt for a 1–3 hour car drive just once in a while.
It remains to be seen if Swift and Sweeney’s dispute will go all the way to court. It is a complicated case because, although what Sweeney is doing is legal and anyone can theoretically track a private jet, that doesn’t mean everyone can easily do this. It is by no means an easy process to complete and requires information from multiple data sources. His accounts, though, take the complexity out of the tracking, combining numerous pieces of information from various sources and putting it all together in a simple format for truly anyone to access with a few clicks, and it can’t be denied there are times when this could be a safety concern. At the same time, perhaps the fact that these planes can be tracked and leave behind enormous carbon footprints should incentivize celebrities to find a different mode of transportation.
(featured image: Omar Havana / Getty / Jamie McCarthy / Getty)
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