Why did Taylor Swift threaten legal action against a college student? The private jet drama with Jack Sweeney, explained

Towards the end of January 2024, when fake, AI-created X-rated images of Taylor Swift went viral on X (formerly Twitter), Swifties joined forces to defend and protect their idol, fighting on her behalf long before the Folklore singer took any action. But now, as the Grammy winner threatens to sue a college student for “stalking and harassing” her, Swift’s loyal fanbase is having a hard time taking her side in the argument.

Those just hearing about the not-so-new debacle need to know that Jack Sweeney, the college student currently facing the collective ire of Swift’s lawyers, has been on the receiving end of a very similar accusation back in 2022.

At the time, when Musk had freshly assumed ownership of the social media platform, one of his first decisions was to ban Jack Sweeney’s personal account and many of his other accounts that used publicly available plane tracking info to reveal the private jet usage of public figures — that included the Chief Tweet, Ron DeSantis, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, etc. — and their resultant carbon footprints on Twitter. 

This was all part of the project that first brought him fame back in 2022 and evidently, getting banned on Twitter has done little to deter Sweeney, who is a junior at the University of Central Florida, as he continued tracking the jets of several celebs, including Taylor Swift, on his accounts on other platforms like Instagram, Telegram, Discord, etc.

Taylor Swift is concerned that Jack Sweeney knows her “all too well” and thus poses a security risk

Yep, and based on that notion the pop star’s team of lawyers have sent Sweeney letters, threatening that legal action will be taken against him as Sweeney sharing information about the “Blank Space” singer’s flights allows harassers to have direct access to her whereabouts. The first letter of warning was sent to him back in December 2023, followed by another in January 2024 cautioning him the consequences if he doesn’t stop, as reported by The Washington Post.

In his defense and response to the letters, Sweeney has shared with the outlet that the information he provides is already available publicly — the info comes via “unencrypted signals broadcast straight from planes (ADS-B),” as explained by Sweeney in a post  — can be freely used, and as the UCF student has pointed out in the past, needs no kind of “hacking” to be accessed, which makes it absolutely legal.

But lawyer Katie Wright Morrone, in the letter to Sweeney, has pointed out that the location information shared by him only serves to raise Swift’s “constant state of fear for her personal safety.”

“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.”

While the purpose of Sweeney’s project is to highlight the amount of carbon emission celebrities like Swift alone have been adding — and the singer has been facing criticism for using her jet to fly to her Eras Tour venues and meeting her new beau, Travis Kelce — the letter stresses that there is “no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.”

Why are Swifties not in favor of Taylor Swift as she threatens to sue Jack Sweeney?

Of course, there are fans out there defending Swift’s decision to send a cease-and-desist letter to Sweeney, but unlike every time, when Swifties become a force to reckon with, coming together to defend the singer this time is proving to be a difficult task.

Many are finding it hard to digest that Swift is accusing a college student of “harassing behavior” when he uses publicly available information to point out her massive carbon footprint.

So, who is wrong? Sweeney or Swift? Is tracking the singer’s carbon footprint really endangering her safety? She has been stalked in the past and a stalker was arrested earlier in 2024 outside her New York home. As per her lawyers, there is the suggestion of a connection between the “timing of stalkers” following Swift and the information Sweeney shares. But nothing is confirmed at this point.

Will this letter be enough to stop Sweeney? Based on the fact that his response was taunting that Swift’s “team thinks they can control the world,” I think not.