Guy on Smashing Taylor Swift Guitar: It Was Just a Joke

UPDATE Oct 3, 2024 4:01 AM CDT

The Texas man who spent $4,000 on a guitar at a charity auction only to immediately smash it says the whole thing was "just a joke" and not at all "malicious," though he also confirmed to NBC News that he's a Donald Trump supporter, and as such wasn't happy when Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president, so "you can connect the dots there," he says. The guitar, however, was never actually owned or autographed by Swift, a source close to the singer's merch company confirms to Variety, though it was originally reported to be a "signed" guitar. Rather, the organization that held the auction presented the guitar along with a signed Swift CD insert.

Oct 1, 2024 11:01 AM CDT

A guitar reportedly bearing Taylor Swift's autograph, up for grabs in a charity auction in Texas, went to a man who paid $4,000 for the instrument, only to take a hammer to it. The unnamed bidder was seen smashing the guitar with the hammer shortly after bidding closed on the item at the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner in Waxahachie on Sunday evening, drawing cheers from the audience, per TMZ. "He then looked as though he was about to smash [the guitar] on the ground, before the [auction's] host stopped him," per Billboard.

Parade calls it a "bold political statement," coming weeks after Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. A witness said people pulled out their phones and started recording after the winning bidder announced his "unexpected, but not surprising" intention to smash the guitar, per the Independent. "This part of Texas leans heavily conservative, and the Biden/Harris administration isn't held in high regard," the witness said.

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A third party donated the guitar to the dinner, a nonprofit event supporting agricultural education for youth, well before Swift's endorsement, per TMZ. The instrument featured a faceplate made up of images from Swift's Eras Tour and an autographed insert from Swift's Midnights album, per Parade. The lot also included a guitar wall hanger, though as the auctioneer pointed out, per Guitar World, "I guess we don't need [it]." Swift's passionate fans, known as Swifties, didn't appear too concerned, noting the guitar wasn't actually signed by Swift and only boasted a signed CD insert that had been "chopped up," per Parade. (More Taylor Swift stories.)