Does a video falsely attributed to the New York Times show Taylor Swift agreeing to support Democrats and gender reassignment surgeries for children in exchange for $500 million? No, that's not true: The video uses clips from Swift's real April 2026 New York Times interview and adds completely fabricated captions. The New York Times never reported that Swift agreed to any such deal.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted by the @Emprender_Zrii account on X on Sept. 22, 2026. It read:
Billie Eilish has received 120 million dollars from the Democratic Party of the United States. Taylor Swift is willing to support the Democrats and gender reassignment surgeries for minors in exchange for 500 million dollars.
This is what the video in the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @Emprender_Zrii on X.)
Here is the post with the videos from X:
Billie Eilish ha recibido 120 millones de dólares del Partido Demócrata de EE. UU.
-- Zrii Bogota (@Emprender_Zrii) September 22, 2026
Taylor Swift está dispuesta a apoyar a los demócratas y las cirugías de reasignación de género para menores a cambio de 500 millones de dólares. pic.twitter.com/zMH5SyZLFS
This fact check will focus on the claim regarding Swift. A fact check about the fake Washington Post video of Billie Eilish can be found here.
In the 48-second video posted on X, Swift is wearing a black tank top. This outfit matches Swift's outfit from her April 2026 interview with the New York Times (archived here) when she was named one of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters. This screenshot from the New York Times video matches her outfit in the video posted on X:
(Image source: article by The New York Times.)
The New York Times article with the video includes a transcript of Swift's interview and there is no mention of her willingness to support the Democrats and reassignment surgeries for children in exchange for $500 million.
Lead Stories searched the New York Times (archived here) for a news story about her supporting Democrats and gender reassignment surgery for minors for a $500 million payment and did not find any matching reports.
Had the New York Times actually reported Swift had agreed to $500 million in exchange for supporting Democrats and gender reassignment surgeries in children, it would have been major news. Lead Stories searched Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) and did not find any credible reports of Swift agreeing to $500 million to support the Democrats and gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
