Taylor Swift did not lose a $125 million brand contract after endorsing Kamala Harris

Is it true that the U.S. singer-songwriter Taylor Swift lost millions of dollars in a brand contract after endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign? 

That’s what a Sept. 14 Facebook post claimed, but its source was not a legitimate news source. 

“Hot News: Taylor Swift unexpectedly lost a $125 million brand contract after a massive advertising campaign,” the post said. It showed an image of Harris on the left and Swift on the right, with tears in her eyes.

The claim was also shared in Spanish. 

(Screengrab from Facebook)

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

PolitiFact contacted Swift publicists, but we received no response.

Swift posted Sept. 10 on Instagram that she will be voting for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

But PolitiFact found no credible news stories in the Nexis database or public statements by Swift saying she lost millions of dollars in a brand contract for supporting Harris.

When we did a Google search of the post’s headline, we found a Sept. 12 article with a similar title published on Esspots, a website that describes itself as a creator of satirical content. The article also had a tag that says “satire.”

The Facebook post also sent users to a link for the supposed “full story” on the URL celebtoday24h.com. But this story is a copy-and-paste from the Esspots article — only without the satire disclaimer.

The Facebook post’s image of Swift is from a 2020 documentary about the making of her album “Folklore.”

We rate this claim False.

By

Maria Briceño

Staff writer

September 20, 2024

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• Taylor Swift did not lose a $125 million brand contract after endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. The claim originated on a satirical website.

• PolitiFact found no credible news stories or public statements from or about Swift saying she lost millions of dollars in a brand contract by endorsing Harris.

Statement

"Taylor Swift unexpectedly lost a $125 million brand contract after a massive advertising campaign” endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Context

a Facebook post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Facebook posts

Statement Date

September 14, 2024