Taylor Swift attends the 2020 Sundance Film Festival - "Miss Americana" Premiere at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2020 in Park City, Utah.
Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesOn Thursday, the Democratic Party of Virginia posted and then pulled down "Swifties Against Youngkin" merchandise from their web store.
The move follows Terry McAuliffe -- the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor -- running ads across Facebook, Instagram and Google starting Tuesday that highlighted his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin's connection to the sale of Taylor Swift's masters back in June 2019. Youngkin was the co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, which helped back Scooter Braun's infamous purchase of Swift's Big Machine master recordings. The digital ads included photos of Swift and the hashtag #WeStandWithTaylor.
"Did you know that Republican candidate for Governor, Glenn Youngkin, helped buy Taylor Swift's masters out from under her when he was co-CEO of Carlyle Group?" one of the targeted ads states.
Piggybacking off the ads, the Democratic Party of Virginia started selling hats, mugs and buttons with the phrase "Swifties Against Youngkin" emblazoned on them in magenta writing, as reported by Washingtonian magazine on Thursday. A screenshot of the merch was tweeted Friday (Oct. 8) by Mediate reporter Katherine Higgins.
There's no word yet why the merch was pulled, but back in February 2017, Swift filed a series of trademarks for the word "Swifties" -- the nickname for her fanbase.
Swift's spokeswoman has not responded to requests to comment about the singer/songwriter's unwitting involvement in the Virginia gubernatorial race.
In a statement to Billboard about McAuliffe's Swiftie-targeting ad campaign, Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Manuel Bonder said: "No matter the industry, Youngkin has shown he would rip off anyone for a profit. What happened here is a continuation of Glenn Youngkin’s abhorrent track record of shipping jobs overseas, raising rents on seniors, and harming working families across our country. When it comes to Taylor Swift's music: What did Glenn know and when did he know it? Virginians deserve answers."
For his part, Youngkin rep Christian Martinez responded: “Terry McAuliffe has reached the stage of desperation in his campaign where he’s rolling out the most baseless attacks to see what sticks. It’s a pathetic fall that could only be achieved by a 43-year political hack.”
Swift is now re-recording her first six records as a response to the sale of her master recordings, beginning with the April release of Fearless (Taylor's Version) and continuing Nov. 12 with Red (Taylor's Version).
NEWS
Charli xcx has added the Music, Fashion, Film B sides “I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night,” “Playboy Bunny” and “If You Take the Music Then What Has She Got?” to iTunes through a new digital deluxe release titled Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition).
The three tracks had already been introduced to listeners through Charli’s @b.sides alternative Instagram account. They also appeared as physical B sides on limited edition 7 inch singles for “Rock Music,” “SS26” and “Camera,” as well as in an extensive Music, Fashion, Film box set. However, fans were unable to officially buy them as digital downloads until Sunday, July 26.
Charli previously told her audience that the songs were “never gonna go on streaming … I don’t think,” although she admitted at the time that her decision might eventually change.
“you can call me a hypocrite, i don’t mind,” Charli wrote alongside a winking emoji while announcing Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition) on Sunday.
Priced at $4.99 on iTunes, the digital collection features all 11 songs from the original Music, Fashion, Film album, along with the three additional B sides and their accompanying music videos.
Explaining her choice further on Instagram, Charli wrote: “i made b sides for each of the songs released ahead of Music, Fashion, Film because it felt natural to pair each songs with a fitting counterpart – something that’s adjacent to the album but not entirely part of it. traditionally, b sides often become fan favorites… and i guess in the case of some of the b sides for this album, that has proven to be true. i felt adamant i wouldn’t put them on streaming because it sort of felt counter intuitive to the whole ethos of those songs, but i know you all really wanted them so i’ve begrudgingly put them on itunes lol.”
Music, Fashion, Film was released on Friday, accompanied by the online premiere of the theatrical short film Charli developed to complement the project.
She will begin a short North American tour supporting Music, Fashion, Film in Philadelphia on Sept. 11. The run will then visit Brooklyn, Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, San Diego, Los Angeles, Glendale and Las Vegas.
