During Super Bowl time, there’s hope for Taylor Swift to arrive from Tokyo to Las Vegas. However, once again, they’re in the news for considering the use of their favorite mode of transportation, a private jet, which they often use for international travel. The Washington Post revealed on Tuesday that Swift’s lawyers have threatened to sue a college student who uses social media to track Swift’s and other celebrities’ private jet planes. Their allegation is that Jack Sweeney’s Instagram profiles, @celebrityjets and the deleted @Taylorswiftjets, are involved in “harassing and stalking behavior.”
Sweeney, a junior at Central Florida University who made headlines in 2022 for tracking Elon Musk’s airplanes, tracks private planes associated with politicians, millionaires, and other public figures using publicly available FAA data. In addition to their takeoff and landing times, Sweeney also revealed estimated carbon emissions figures. According to a 2023 study by the Institute for Policy Studies, private jet travel is the most carbon-intensive mode of transportation, cited by the Fast Company. Private jets produce at least ten times more pollutants per passenger compared to commercial flights.
Swift was named the “biggest celebrity [carbon dioxide] emitter” of 2022 by the Yard Stability Agency. At the time, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine claimed that the figures were false because jets are often leased to others. Gregory Keoleian, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, told the Associated Press that he believes Swift’s default Falcon 900LX aircraft could emit over 200,000 pounds of carbon dioxide during a 19,400-mile journey from Tokyo to Vegas. The US Energy Information Administration estimates this to be nearly 14 times the annual emissions of an average American family.
Sweeney revealed that Swift’s lawyers wrote a cease-and-desist letter to his parents in December. They alleged that they were informed that if their “harassing and stalking behavior” continued, they would have “no option but to pursue all available legal remedies.” They claimed that the stories put them in a constant state of fear for their personal safety and caused them “emotional and physical distress, as well as direct and indirect harm.” Swift’s lawyers wrote to Sweeney in January, describing his comments as “threatening behavior.”
The dispute between Musk and Sweeney made headlines nationwide in 2022 when Musk banned the @Elonsjet Twitter account, which was tracking Musk’s jet. Musk claimed at the time that Sweeney had endangered him by sharing his “assassination coordinates.” Similar to Musk, Swift’s legal team argues that sharing flight data with the public violates people’s privacy. Swift’s lawyers wrote to Sweeney, stating, “While this may be a game for you, or a path to wealth or fame, for our client, it is a matter of life or death.” “There is no legitimate interest or public necessity in this information, except to harass, disturb, and establish dominance and control.”
Swift has been the target of several stalkers in recent years; one was apprehended outside her New York residence in January. It is unclear whether the stalkers were able to locate her accounts due to her accounts or not. Paine said, “We cannot comment on any ongoing police investigations, but we can confirm that the timing of the stalkers’ posts is typically related to Swift.” The exact timing and location of their posts are disclosed.”
Sweeney disagrees. In response to the post, he said, “This information has been available before.” “Their team thinks they can control the world.”
