Taylor Swift Targeted by AI-Fueled Deepfakes and Narrative Attacks

Taylor Swift, one of the world’s biggest pop stars, finds herself again at the center of online manipulation and narrative attacks. As millions of fans and observers discuss Swift on social media, agenda-driven actors leverage her fame to push various narratives, from crude deepfakes to conspiracy theories about her relationship with Travis Kelce and fake presidential endorsements. The surge in narrative attacks targeting Swift demonstrates how narrative attacks can be weaponized to shape public opinion on everything from politics to sports to culture.

Swift has experienced firsthand the perils of a shifting digital information environment and the technologies shaping it. Earlier this year, Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce found themselves at the center of a digital storm of narrative attacks about their relationship flooded social media. And recently, explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift proliferated across social media platforms. These manipulated images, which gained millions of views within hours, highlight the growing danger of AI-driven deepfakes. 

READ MORE: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Vs. The Internet: A Relationship Shaped by Narrative Attacks

Following Swift’s public endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, Blackbird.AI’s RAV3N Research Team uncovered twelve significant narratives circulating across the social web and on messaging apps:

Narrative 1: A general celebration from left-leaning and Harris campaign-focused accounts: Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris is seen as a significant win due to the singer’s influence among young voters, a demographic that is often politically disengaged. Some see her as a potential motivator to drive get-out-the-vote efforts favoring progressive causes.

Narrative 2: General backlash from right-leaning accounts and influencers: Major right-leaning figures have criticized Swift’s endorsement, accusing her of being out of touch with reality. Many conservative voices have framed this as another example of celebrity interference in politics, targeting her as a symbol of liberal elitism that doesn’t understand the concerns of “real Americans.”

Narrative 3: Swift disabled comments on her endorsement post: Right-leaning accounts frequently pointed out that Swift had disabled comments on her post announcing her endorsement of Harris, alleging that she was forced to do so due to intense backlash. These users failed to note that Swift has had comments disabled on all her posts for some time now. 

Narrative 4: In response to Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, Donald Trump told a reporter that she would likely “pay a price.”: Accounts frequently circulated a statement by Trump in response to a question about what he thought of Swift’s endorsement of Harris. Trump stated that Swift would “probably pay a price” in the marketplace – i.e., among her fanbase – for the Harris endorsement. While some found the statement vaguely threatening, others reiterated the belief that Swift would see a decline in her audience due to the backlash.

Narrative 5: Swift is an out-of-touch billionaire who endorsed Harris because her policies won’t affect her: Critics argue that as a wealthy celebrity, Swift is detached from the realities of the struggling middle and lower classes. The claim suggests that Swift can afford to support Harris’s policies because they won’t personally impact her or her wealth.

Narrative 6: #CatLadiesForKamala hashtag campaign: Following Swift’s endorsement, her detractors and supporters engaged with this hashtag. While some used it as a mocking reference to the “childless cat lady” trope, others reclaimed it as a symbol of independent women who support progressive causes. This narrative had the highest anomalous activity of them all – likely due to its focus on a hashtag campaign.

Narrative 7: Swift better “hope no Haitian migrants get near her cat”: This narrative is tied to a racist trope circulating in some niche communities. It refers to a false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been skinning and eating the community’s pets. It is now being used in connection with Swift’s endorsement of Harris, playing on xenophobic fears and narrative attacks.

Narrative 8: Swift’s endorsement of Harris is proof women should not be able to vote: A small number of accounts responded to the endorsement with calls to repeal the 19th amendment – which gave women the right to vote – or generally asserted the viewpoint that Swift’s announcement was proof that women should not be allowed to vote.

Narrative 9: Swift only endorsed Harris because Brittany Mahomes endorsed Trump: Some conspiracy theories suggest that Swift’s endorsement was strategically timed to counter Brittany Mahomes’ support for Donald Trump. The narrative goes further, alleging that Swift was trying to save face after backlash from hugging Mahomes at the US Open. This narrative also saw significant bot-like activity, at 25.8%.

Narrative 10: Taylor Swift supports communism if she supports Harris: Some far-right commentators equate Swift’s endorsement of Harris with supporting communism, going so far as to include AI-generated images of Swift wearing a red cloak with the Soviet hammer and sickle on it. This is a frequent smear tactic used against progressive figures, conflating their support for social justice or equality with communism. Evidence of inauthentic amplification was evident within this narrative, which saw the highest level of bot-like activity of any endorsement-related narrative at 27.6% of users.

Narrative 11: Swift endorsed Kamala Harris but hasn’t spoken up about Palestine: A recurring criticism is that while Swift has taken a political stance by endorsing Harris, she remains silent on issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict. Critics argue that this silence on international human rights issues contradicts her publicly promoted values. This narrative experienced a high level of bot-like activity at 23.1% of users.

Narrative 12: The women voting for Harris are childish – Swift’s “childless cat lady” sign-off: This narrative paints female Harris supporters, including Swift, as “childless cat ladies” who don’t have a stake in the future. Critics argue these women are politically naive and unconcerned with family or the next generation. Hence, they don’t take severe issues like the economy or immigration seriously.

Even before Swift endorsed Harris, online mentions of her spiked by several million in the past month. As it tends to happen around major influential subjects online, many of these mentions connect with significant developments, upcoming events, and social concerns and anxieties. In a Blackbird.AI dataset looking at the past 30 days of data, the Blackbird.AI team analyzed three categories of conversation about Swift – the upcoming US presidential election, the cancelation of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Vienna due to a terrorism plot, and fan chatter.

Narratives surrounding Swift’s political leanings saw a significant increase in mentions, even before her public statement regarding her endorsement of Kamala Harris for the election. Before September 10, the Blackbird.AI team identified two significant narratives related to the election – one around a “Swifties for Trump” movement and false allegations that Swift had endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, as well as a narrative around a grassroots “Swifties for Kamala” campaign and rumors that Swift would or had publicly endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ bid or would serve as a surprise special guest performer at the DNC.

Of all narratives examined in the one-month dataset surrounding mentions of Swift, those related to the election – looking across the political spectrum – saw the highest levels of bot-like activity, at roughly 14%-15% of posts within these conversations. Anomalous activity – a measure of atypical content propagation behavior indicative of coordination or impending virality – was also notably high in these narratives, ranging from 55.2%-67.8% of posts. These numbers indicate that the politically driven narratives surrounding Swift were the most likely to show signs of targeted coordination and manipulation.

LEARN MORE: What is Digital Risk Protection?

Within the “Swifties for Trump” narrative, Swift was once again the target of AI-generated imagery – used to push the false claim that Swift had publicly announced an endorsement of Trump. In addition to AI-generated images portraying Swift and her fans as backing the Republican nominee, several influential hyper-partisan-leaning accounts also made similar claims. These accounts sometimes leveraged recent events affecting Swift, with more than one user stating that Swift fans were endorsing Trump to “make America SAFE again” or that they wanted a strong leader in the White House after her concerts in Vienna were canceled due to terrorism concerns.

LEARN MORE: The Importance of Web Monitoring for Brand Protection

Additional spikes in conversation occurred around the cancelation of Swift’s Eras Tour dates in Vienna after authorities uncovered a terrorist plot targeting the shows. Although most responses were supportive of Swift and the decision to cancel the shows, or neutral as in the case of general news coverage, some users sought to leverage the situation to push political agendas – connecting the plot to American voters’ concerns related to violence, terrorism, and social safety. 

Meanwhile, in a different sub-narrative, several accounts self-identifying as women noted that the targeting of a Taylor Swift concert was equivalent to targeting women and girls, given that the audience of her shows has mainly skewed female. Users expressed concern about male-perpetrated violence, misogynistic violent crime, and terrorism and violence targeting women. This and discussions connected to Swift on nonconsensual AI-generated media demonstrate how celebrity and fandom can often serve as conduits for discussing severe social issues affecting a broader population.  

However, much of the highest engagement content was joyful and positive, driven by fans. The highest engagement author – earning triple the engagements of the next highest – was a fan account dedicated to coverage of the Eras Tour. The three narratives scoring highest for anomalous activity – likely the result of a dedicated community of users consistently engaging with the same topics – related to the discussion of Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce and their public sightings, fan chatter around developments at her London shows–special guest performances, surprise songs–and record-breaking attendance numbers. Fans celebrated the release of behind-the-scenes tour footage in Swift’s music video for I Can Do It With A Broken Heart. Reactions to her presence at the opening NFL game were overwhelmingly positive and earned massive online engagement. 

The highest engagement post within the entire dataset of mentions of Swift in the past month is the most demonstrative of all the upbeat and lighthearted content. It came from a fan who wrote in reply to a post in remembrance of Princess Diana, “Rip princess Diana, you would’ve loved the smallest man who ever lived by Taylor Swift.”

LEARN MORE: What is Narrative Risk?

The Way Forward: Five Key Takeaways For Organizational Leaders

• Celebrity Attracts Manipulation: Agenda-driven actors often use high-profile figures to amplify narratives, whether they are global celebrities like Taylor Swift or well-known narrative attack sector professionals. Swift’s public endorsements and relationships were targeted to spread narrative attacks.
• AI-Generated Content Fuels Narrative Attack: The proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and other manipulated media illustrates the growing danger of AI-driven narrative attack. Organizations must stay vigilant and develop strategies to detect and mitigate these attacks.
• Political Polarization Exploits Cultural Icons: Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris sparked polarized reactions, with narratives crafted to appeal to both ends of the political spectrum. Leaders should recognize that public figures can be used as tools in political and social debates, often to their detriment.
• Misinformation Escalates in Emotionally Charged Events: The cancellation of Swift’s Vienna concert due to a terrorism threat became a vehicle for political narratives. Organizations must be prepared for crises where misinformation will likely flourish, impacting their reputation and public discourse.
• Online Narratives Can Escalate Quickly: Anomalous activity surrounding Taylor Swift’s political stance and personal life indicates that misinformation spreads rapidly, often coordinated by bad actors. Organizations must monitor online conversations to anticipate and respond to narrative attacks in real-time.

Public figures—and by extension, brands and businesses—can quickly become targets of narrative attack campaigns. By staying proactive and leveraging advanced tools like narrative intelligence, leaders can navigate these digital threats and protect their organization’s reputation in an increasingly complex information ecosystem.

To learn how Blackbird.AI detects narrative attacks through narrative intelligence, book a demo.