In December 2020, 31-year-old Taylor Swift surprised fans by releasing a second album after the 2020 album Folklore, and fans ultimately went crazy over it. The album is named Evermore, Swift’s ninth studio album, and it has made it to No. 1 twice on the Billboard Top 200 charts. It’s evident Swift had a very successful drop with this album just as she had the first one. However, this time around, she is facing a $2 million dollar lawsuit from a Utah Theme Park alleging this album is an infringement on trademarks.
Related: Cardi B Ate It All ‘UP’ in Front of Us
The background
The popular attraction just south of Salt Lake City, Utah, ‘Evermore Park’, portrays a wide theme of fantasy–dragons, fairies, trolls, etc. The CEO of Evermore Park, Ken Bretschneider, is claiming that Swift had stolen the name for her album, as he speaks about how sales have been greatly affected by the album release.
In a tweet back in Jan. 2021, Bretschneider wrote, “Evermore is not out of business, but 2020 (COVID) made for a very hard year / We had to deal with real financial issues and continue to put our heart and soul and everything we have into this dream. Hoping for a better 2021.”
Bretschneider also claims that people have been asking about current connections to the female artist, which he later claimed were negatively affecting the sales of the park entirely.
Swift’s team speaks out
Fans are angry about the idea that a theme park would sue one of the biggest female artists today. One spokesperson on her team, J. Douglas Baldridge, did speak out in a letter that was used in these court files. He wrote, “Put simply, the Swift parties have not infringed your client’s trademark, and it is inconceivable that there is any likelihood of confusion between your client’s theme park and related products and Ms. Swift’s music and related products.”
Swift also made it clear as to why she wrote this album just hours before the release. In a Twitter post, she wrote, “To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs.” She also added, “I have no idea what will come next. I have no idea about a lot of things these days and so I’ve clung to the one thing that keeps me connected to you all. That thing has and always will be music. And may it continue, evermore.”
Although Swift has not spoken out regarding the lawsuit, she did in fact end up getting sued in tune of $2 million due to the name, the sales, merchandise, etc. It’s unknown if anything else will end up happening with the album and its supposed connection to the park, but for now, loyal fans continue to support the star and look forward to her next album.
