Taylor Swift threatens legal action against college student who tracks celebrity private jet flights

A social media account run by a college student that tracks celebrity private jet usage is being met with potential legal action from Taylor Swift‘s attorneys. 

The account, Celeb Jets, is run by Jack Sweeney, a University of Central Florida student. He has run the account for years, logging the takeoffs and landings of planes and helicopters owned by billionaires, celebrities and politicians, and including estimations of their emissions. The data used in the posts is publicly available information from the Federal Aviation Administration, The Washington Post reported.

In December, Sweeney received a cease-and-desist from Swift’s team who said they would have no choice but to continue with legal action if he did not stop his “stalking and harassing behavior.” They stated that his account had caused Swift and her family “emotional and physical distress.” The account does not disclose who travels on the plane or where they go once it lands

Also, the letter added that there is “no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.” 

Sweeney said that the letter was an attempt to silence him from sharing the public data, stating that it was sent when the singer was facing criticism for her private jet’s environmental impact. A second letter was sent to Sweeney last month, stating that his posts constituted “harassing conduct.”

“This information is already out there,” he said. “Her team thinks they can control the world.”

In 2022, Sweeney’s accounts were cited in naming Swift as the highest estimated “celebrity (carbon dioxide) polluter” of the year.