Slater could have poked fun at Venable’s attempt to anchor their case on Instagram comments. That strategy betrays the weakness of a case they will never bring.
yes, many of them used giant ships at the time. Or private trains. Prior to that, private carriages…
So, given the actual reality of who Swift is, etc? What’s your suggestion for her getting around to major cities for a tour? Just… no longer tour? Only do a show a month? Take public transit? What happens when some right wing asshole tries to shoot her on public transit? What then?
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I fly commercial all the time for work, and I see famous people on commercial planes regularly. Ozzy Osbourne and Conan O’Brien were probably my faves. I also saw Paris Hilton when she was at the height of her - well, fame? unclear. I have to imagine she has enough money to own a jet or charter jets but she was just sitting there in first class. If you go to LAX you will see famous people regularly.
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If I was the lawyer replying, I would have added a “let me Google that for you” explanation of how to use the FAA’s ADS-B privacy mechanisms. And then send them a bill for the effort it took the RTFWebsite for them.
Fly first class and charter private transportation like buses and such as needed? The Beatles flew Pan Am. Even Prince Edward flies commercial on occasion. It’s not as convenient, but it’s certainly possible.
I don’t think Taylor Swift is any worse than countless other billionaires, but on this particular issue she’s not any better either.
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It was chartered… they didn’t fly with the public… 
And there were a ton of people at the airport when they showed up… so, not like they just booked regular flights…
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I always liked comic book writer / artist Walt Simonson’s signature:
Ps if someone wants to split this off topic splinter, go for it.
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Additional context - the dude is tracking a single plane she’s known to own. If she chartered a jet rather than insisting on owning one, she’d get whatever reg number was available and folks would make educated guesses at which ones she took, but it’d not be exact.
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I think that would probably be a good compromise, yes. i’m guessing that the justification for owning rather than renting is safety and convenience.
But again, the real answer to this is systemic change of our energy grid and general forms of transport for everyone, not just the wealthy.
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If your entourage is big enough to fill the seats.of a commercial charter jet then the carbon footprint is essentially the same as if everyone bought their tickets separately, just like a charter bus full of tourists has about the same carbon footprint as a city bus.
There are lots of ways rich people can cut their carbon footprints while traveling but the wealthier people get the easier it becomes to rationalize convenience over environmental impact. This is true across the economic spectrum but those with disproportionate resources at their disposal have a disproportionate impact.
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An earnest threat to file a meritless lawsuit should be illegal. It reminds me of debt collectors doing to same thing for zombie debt. People should be able to sue in response to such intimidation practices.
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I don’t follow the story too closely, but iirc Swift is getting flak not for her jet usage to get to tour dates, but because between that and her “optional” weekend jaunts, she’s amassed the highest carbon footprint of any celebrity in the world.
You know I agree on all points about needing to push for systemic change, better public transit, etc., (and that we’re right about that 
) but I do think there is also a place for societal pressure on influential figures when it comes to this stuff. It’s tough seeing it land on someone as young as Swift, but with great power and all that.
The real time tracking/posting is a whole different issue, imo. That’s more related to safety. Though, any fanatic could get that info already.
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Exactly. Even a threat of an expensive lawsuit is often enough to make a private citizen stop. Engaging a lawyer to write a response (such as the nice letter sent by Mr. Sweeny’s lawyer) can easily cost hundreds dollars, far too much money for an awful lot of people. And if you can’t afford to have a lawyer reply to one SLAPPy letter, how in the heck are you going to be able to afford to respond with an anti-SLAPP motion?
Worse, the people who can’t afford lawyers usually don’t know how to respond. Not everyone knows about the ACLU, EFF, SPLC, or other legal groups that exist to help people in their situations. And even if they do, it’s yet another crap shoot if they will be able to help you with your case.
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That’s like saying the President could ride the bus
Like, he could, but probably not very many times before he was taken to New York and then we’d have to send in Kurt Russel, and that is very problematic. We’ve all seen the documentary.
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But one person doesn’t need an entourage of that size. Or any size.
This isn’t directed at you, but I’m really getting fed up with the lionization of some pop star just because she happens to be hated by morons at the moment. She’s not better or worse than other people, and should use her status to set an example rather than whatever this is.
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Again, Taylor Swift isn’t the first pop star in history to travel regularly. Lots of rich and famous people fly commercially.
Buying and operating a private jet is a convenient and luxurious choice many people would make if they had as much money as Taylor Swift/Elon Musk/Kim Kardashian/Tom Cruise etc. but it is still just that—a choice, not a requirement.
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I’m sure she can just lug the gear herself… /s
No shit. No one said other wise. If we want a society that values all of us, yes, we need to change the lionization of celebrities… but that kind of change doesn’t happen over night…
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No, she can rent it on site, like most touring acts, even big ones.
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Tbh, if I had to fly out of the same airport as TS a bunch, I’d probably lose my shit and start a gofundme to get her a private plane.
I’ve been in airports when a D-list celeb is there. The most famous woman in the world?
fuck that, I’m walkin
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Taylor Swift’s PJs didn’t get seen as a problem until her legal team sued to try and shut down public knowledge of them. I didn’t even know she had any, now I know she had two but has sold one of them.
I fully agree she isn’t responsible for humanity’s climate and pollution crises but she’s hugely influential and I would like to think she could show some pro-climate leadership by not indulging in PJs.
At the same time, I agree she’s got more to fear from right-wing stalkers and extremists than a lot of people. The current Swift-Superbowl-Biden conspiracy could easily provoke an attack. So I have some sympathy from that angle.
Then again, Greta Thunberg gets a lot of right-wing flak for travelling by boat and plane. I don’t know what it all means.
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