“Taylor Swift sued a college student for tracking her private jet.”
Verdict: Her lawyers threatened to; they didn't file. In December 2023 the firm Venable LLP sent Jack Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop posting her jet's movements, calling it 'stalking and harassing behaviour' and warning of legal action. Sweeney's lawyer replied that the data was public and nothing was illegal. No lawsuit followed, though Sweeney's accounts were later removed from some platforms.
The letter, dated 22 December 2023 and published by TIME in February 2024, argued that Sweeney's posts gave 'individuals intent on harming her' a roadmap, and referenced her past experience with stalkers. It came amid a wave of 'flight-shaming' coverage after a 2022 analysis ranked Swift among the celebrities with the highest private-jet emissions — an analysis her team said counted flights on which she wasn't aboard because the jet was loaned out.
Sweeney, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Central Florida, had been posting flight data for dozens of public figures, framed as a climate-accountability project. His attorney's response noted that the information came from publicly broadcast transponder signals and FAA records, and that his posts were typically delayed.
What happened next: no complaint was ever filed in court. Swift's team subsequently sold one of her two Dassault Falcons, and she reportedly enrolled in the FAA's programmes that mask an aircraft's registration in public feeds. Sweeney continued posting on other platforms.
So the story is real, the legal threat was real, and the word 'sued' is the exaggeration.
Sources: time.com · cbsnews.com
Aircraft in this story
