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Taylor Swift Called Out For 'Cash Grab' After Charging $19.89 To Rent Her 'Eras Tour' Movie
There appears to be bad blood between music star Taylor Swift and her fans.
With the singer-songwriter's The Eras Tour movie available for rent at $19.89, a reference to her iconic album 1989, Swifties accused Swift of being greedy, even calling her a "capitalist queen."
On November 27, Swift announced that an extended version of her concert movie, filmed during her LA engagement at SoFi Stadium in August, would be available to rent on-demand starting December 13, which is her birthday.
The movie would include songs that were not shown in theaters, including “Wildest Dreams,” “The Archer” and “Long Live."
According to Forbes, Swift's net worth last month rose to $ 1.1 billion following the success of her Eras Tour, which has continued overseas, with a recent leg in Brazil wrapping up.
Her status as an official billionaire was largely achieved from her music, whereas other artists like Jay-Z and Rihanna have become billionaires thanks to side hustles like alcohol investments and cosmetic brands, respectively.
However, Swift was called out once before for a shameless "cash grab" after she released multiple "limited edition" colored vinyls of her 1989 re-recording.
Earlier this summer, fans were informed that the first 1989 LP version, called Sunrise Boulevard Yellow, was only available for 48 hours through her website.
Her online store's merch page also included a countdown encouraging fans to act fast before it sold out.
But even devoted Swifties were flummoxed days later when Swift's team announced the release of the Aquamarine vinyl version that would also be available for 48 hours.
Each record had the same songs and was sold for $31.89 with its own shipping costs as the multiple versions were not available to purchase simultaneously.
Fans had enough and sounded off on social media.
One Redditor lamented:
“Why. So. Many. Version. Of. The. Same. Damn. Album. Taylor. Why. So. Many. Version. Of. The. Same. Damn. Album. Taylor. I cannot deal with the money grabbing feel."
Another said:
“I’m actually getting annoyed she keeps doing this.”
With the latest announcement of the $19.89 online rental costs, fans were once again peeved at their beloved anti-hero.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote:
"I'm sorry but mother has been getting kinda money greedy recently cause ain't no way she needs to make it $20 to see one time she's literally a billionaire."
Another said:
'Why wouldn't she make it free. She's a billionaire & we've already paid to see it in movies."
Swift also released several versions of her studio album Midnights last fall, with fans being forced to buy every single copy to hear all the exclusive songs on each version.
One user fumed:
"Enough with the cash grabs girl. You have like a billion dollars. Releasing every CD with 8 different versions was already too much but this just feels egregious."
"Just let it stream or let people straight up buy it. This feels icky."
The complaints continued:
unpopular opinion & i don\u2019t care : taylor making a million versions of albums w ONE additional song, &a WHOLE NEW MOVIE, with two additional songs is a MONEY GRAB & GREEDY. it\u2019s excessive. it\u2019s a lot of money spent on taylor swift. im a fan. & i love her music. but its not fair.— (@)
Not everyone faulted the Grammy winner for the hefty price tag of renting her concert movie.
@Taylorsswift_22 when barbie first went to rent it was $25.99 so like of course its expensive but its industry standard. I don't agree with those prices in general, but its not a 'taylor swift is so greedy' situation, it's just industry standard.— (@)
According to a press release, the Eras Tour movie will be available starting December 13 on digital streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Vudu, Xfinity, YouTube TV, and Google TV.
The singer made $190 million after taxes from the first leg of the Eras Tour and an additional $35 million from the first two weeks of her corresponding concert film released by AMC in theaters.
Swift's leg of her world tour will resume on February 7, with four shows in Tokyo, Japan, before continuing on to Australia, Singapore, France, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.
She added additional US and Canada tour dates scheduled for late 2024.