STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

Satire Origin

Did Taylor Swift lose "brand deals worth $125 million" after endorsing Kamala Harris? No, that's not true: The online rumor came from a website that labels itself as satire. The article didn't even mention the name of the Democratic presidential nominee.

The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on September 12, 2024. It said:

Taylor Swift Loses Brand Deals Worth $125 Million After The Big Endorsement

- This is Satire

This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Sep 13 14:30:50 2024 UTC)

Not only did the post say the statement was satire, the screenshot of the article in it had two smaller disclaimers, one at the top right corner, the other at the top left corner.

The one on the left said:

RATED SATIRE.

The one on the right said:

Nothing on this page is real.

If you believe anything we post

Then you're potato crop.

The description of the page (archived here) that published the post on Facebook read:

We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.

The article whose screenshot was shared in the post on Facebook came from the website named Esspots, linked in the Facebook page's bio.

Esspots.com's About page (archived here) says:

Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire.

SpaceXMania's About page (archived here), in turn, states that its goal is:

To bring you the freshest fake news, some sassy analysis, and a good dose of satire, all rolled into one crazy concoction that orbits around Elon Musk and everything that's lighting up the viral/trending charts.

Other websites and accounts, however, shared the claim that is the focus of this fact check without a satire label, such as here (archived here ) and here (archived here).

Contrary to what was implied by the use of Kamala Harris' photo, the Esspots article about Taylor Swift (archived here) didn't even discuss Harris. Instead, it read:

After months of hinting at her political leanings and subtly weaving her opinions into her songs, Swift made it official: she threw her full-throated support behind a controversial political figure.

Was it a presidential candidate? A new movement? A cause everyone can get behind? No. In a twist that no one saw coming, Swift endorsed...a vegan cryptocurrency backed by none other than Elon Musk's second cousin.

Swift endorsed Harris in a post on Instagram (archived here) published shortly after the presidential debate on September 10, 2024.

However, a search across Google News for the keywords seen here (archived here) didn't show a single news article covering the singer's supposed loss of revenue following her Harris endorsement.

Other Google searches for the keywords seen here (archived here) and here (archived here) didn't reveal any reputable sources linking Swift to the purported "vegan cryptocurrency," either.

Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Taylor Swift can be found here. Fact checks of claims about the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.