Social media platform X’s Community Notes is spreading false information about Taylor Swift’s bodyguard.
On Tuesday, October 17, Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that an Israeli bodyguard who worked for Swift had returned to his home country to volunteer as a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Two days later, the official representative of the State of Israel boasted about his re-enlistment, @-lettering the multi-platinum pop superstar with the message: “We promise you’ll never find another like him.” Attached to the account are two photos of the bodyguard: one in uniform and the other next to Swift.
But then “Community Notes X” – a tool designed to add context to factually inaccurate and misleading statements on the platform – false stated that the bodyguard was never part of Swift’s security team, adding a note to the State of Israel’s tweet.
“The bodyguard in question worked at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City; the second photo was taken from Swift’s July 8 Eras Tour performance at that location,” the note reads. “This means he was never in her employ and is not part of the singer’s personal security team.”
Community Note cites an article from the British tabloid Daily Mail as its source.
The problem is that the note’s claim appears to be false and easily disproven. For starters Daily Mail The article he cites doesn’t say this at all – in fact, it doesn’t mention Arrowhead Stadium or say anything about a bodyguard working at the site. Actually the article does call him “Taylor Swift’s bodyguard.”
Entertainment trade magazine Variety said it confirmed Israel Hayom’s report that the bodyguard had returned to Israel, although both publications noted that he asked not to be named. Bellingcat was unable to independently verify whether he had indeed returned to his home country. What is certain, however, is that he appeared alongside Taylor Swift multiple times and at multiple events between May 2022 and September 2023, and that X’s notes disputing this fact are false. X’s press email received an automated response: “Busy now, check back later.” A representative for Swift did not respond to requests for comment.
As stated in their Community Notes Guides, X does not choose what appears in a community note and does not operate under majority rules. Instead, they say the program is open source and transparent, and is based on notes that a variety of people find useful.
However, this community note seems to show how easily lies can be spread through the crowdsourced X system.
Indeed, when a community post containing false information received enough downvotes to no longer appear, some 15 hours after it originally appeared on the Israeli account’s post, there was already another Community note repeating the same lies with enough upvotes to take its place.
The new community note is also incorrect – it repeats the false claim that the bodyguard was hired by the stadium. At the very least, it is noted that the Israeli account incorrectly called the bodyguard “Eran” (this is the name of the Israeli journalist who first reported his re-enlistment to the IDF in Israel Hayom). At the time of publication, the State of Israel account’s tweet had a second community note attached to it containing the same false claim and using the same Daily Mail link, which does not support the claim.
The original tweet from the official account of the State of Israel received more than 53 million views. As of this writing, the first community post containing false information about Swift’s bodyguard has over 650,000 views, and the second, which is still publicly available, has over 1.4 million views. Taken together, this shows how many people can be shown community notes that add no clarification but actually add lies to the message.
“Sparks Fly” (London, New York and Toronto)
To demonstrate the inaccuracy of the Community Note about Swift’s bodyguard, Bellingcat tracked online images showing that he appeared to be a permanent member of her security team, dating back at least 17 months.
The bodyguard first gained internet fame in July when a video of him diligently accompanying Swift to a concert venue went viral after being posted by Barstool Sports. But by then he was well into the job: He had appeared with her on both American coasts and across the Atlantic in the 17 months prior, and would remain with Swift in the months to come.
The bodyguard can be seen standing behind Swift in footage from the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, which took place on September 13 in Newark, New Jersey. At 7:35 in the video, he applauds enthusiastically, although maintaining a professional neutral expression, as hip-hop legend LL Cool J introduces hip-hop icon Darryl “DMC” McDaniels during a medley.
Before this, the bodyguard was with Swift in New York in May, the footage was published on the Just Jared Show tabloid. There he protected Swift from the paparazzi while she was hanging out with English musician Matty Healy from the band The 1975. Rumors about a relationship between them kept the tabloids alive. on both sides of the Atlantic busy for a few weeks. The video of Swift and Healy leaving the building as a bodyguard blocks fans and photographers was posted to YouTube by celebrity news account The Hollywood Fix.
The bodyguard even jumped over a pond to ward off aggressive celebrity photographers from the “Antihero” singer. In January, it blocked the paparazzi’s view when Swift dined in London with actresses Lena Dunham and Cameron Diaz and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, images published on the Just Jared show and on social media. To avoid being photographed, Swift stood behind a bodyguard with a closed umbrella over her head and body, according to Jared.
A few months earlier, in September 2022, Bodyguard was with Swift at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, where she premiered her debut short film. Everything is too good: short film. It has been captured by photographers, such as in the lead image used in this French news report, and in video footage, such as a fan video posted to YouTube of Swift greeting fans lined up behind a barricade while a bodyguard walks in front of her. .
Three months earlier, in June 2022, the bodyguard attended another of the world’s greatest film events, keeping an eye on Swift at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, footage from the show Just Jared. He was also captured on video watching the door as Swift walked outside.
Finally, a security guard was with Swift at the Bronx Bombers’ home in May 2022, watching her as she received an honorary degree from New York University during a ceremony at Yankee Stadium. The image, contained in an article in the British tabloid Metro, shows him walking to her right as the “Welcome To New York” singer waves to the crowd. NYU was filming the action, and a bodyguard may be surrounding Swift’s position as she walks the grounds.
When Variety reported the Israel Hayom story about the bodyguard’s decision to return to Israel, the trade publication said: “It is unclear whether the bodyguard was hired by Swift or the tourist stadium, or how closely he worked with the star. Swift’s rep did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.”
Photographic records show that Swift regularly hired him for security work over the past 17 months in several locations in different countries.
Kolina Koltai, Logan Williams and Sean Craig contributed to the research. Disclosure: Koltai worked at X, formerly Twitter, in 2022, including at Birdwatch, the predecessor to Community Notes.
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