Taylor Swift is sued by a showgirl, and drops video on a Hollywood 'It Girl,' Liz Taylor

The beingness of a showgirl wouldn’t beryllium implicit without a fewer lawsuits, and who knows that amended than Taylor Swift and Elizabeth Taylor?

On Monday, the “Bad Blood” vocalist was deed with a trademark infringement suit regarding her astir caller album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Real-life Las Vegas showgirl and writer Maren Wade, calved Maren Flagg, alleges that Swift knowingly disregarded her assertion to a akin name.

According to the lawsuit, Wade launched the file “Confessions of a Showgirl” successful the Las Vegas Weekly successful 2014. The file yet became a unrecorded show, which became a touring production. “Over the people of a decade, Confessions of a Showgirl grew into a marque encompassing performances, writing, and integer media — built by 1 person, metropolis by metropolis and amusement by show,” reads the lawsuit, which adds that Wade took the amusement crossed the country, and utilized the marque erstwhile appearing connected tv and podcasts.

Wade arsenic a performer herself respects Swift’s close to originative expression, according to the suit, “and thing successful this enactment challenges it.” The filing argues that “whatever [legal] extortion mightiness connect to originative expression, it does not immunize Swift’s abstracted determination to follow a confusingly akin designation arsenic a trademark, affix it to goods, and deploy it arsenic a root identifier successful commerce.”

In 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered “Confessions of a Showgirl” and named Maren Flagg arsenic the owner. And according to the suit, successful November 2025, the bureau refused an effort by Swift’s squad to registry “The Life of a Showgirl” based connected a likelihood of disorder with Wade’s established brand.

Patent lawyer JD Harriman told The Times successful a connection that though the trademark bureau did cull Swift’s mark, she voluntarily suspended the “Life of a Showgirl” exertion portion a abstracted trademark exertion for “Showgirl” moved forward.

“This lawsuit isn’t astir the music, and it whitethorn not adjacent beryllium astir confusion,” Harriman said. “Wade’s ain ailment concedes she’s not challenging the medium itself — lone merchandise. And earlier filing, she was publically hashtagging Swift’s medium and calling herself a fan.”

Jaymie Parkkinen, an lawyer for Wade, told The Times successful an emailed connection that Maren spent much than a decennary gathering Confessions of a Showgirl.

“She registered it. She earned it. When Taylor Swift’s squad applied to registry The Life of a Showgirl, the Trademark Office refused, uncovering Swift’s people confusingly similar,” Parkkinen said. “We person large respect for Swift’s endowment and success, but trademark instrumentality exists to guarantee that creators astatine each levels tin support what they’ve built. That’s what this lawsuit is about.”

Wade’s squad argues that since Swift’s 12th medium dropped past year, hunt results are dominated by Swift, and adjacent though Wade established her ain showgirl marque a decennary ago, her marque is present seen arsenic affiliated with Swift’s.

“The Life of a Showgirl is 1 designation among much than 170 progressive oregon pending trademark registrations managed by Defendant TAS connected behalf of Swift, spanning names, phrases, and commercialized designations crossed 1 of the astir extended trademark portfolios successful the amusement industry,” reads the suit.

Swift’s broader endeavor “does not beryllium connected the continued usage of immoderate azygous designation,” the suit continues. “By contrast, Confessions of a Showgirl is the sole trademark nether which [Wade] has built her nonrecreational individuality for much than a decade. It is not 1 people among hundreds. It is the lone 1 she has. The continued erosion of that people threatens the entirety of Wade’s brand.”

In different Swift news, the Grammy victor dropped the euphony video for “Elizabeth Taylor” connected Tuesday.

The video features archival movie clips of the second starlet — besides known for high-profile ineligible battles, media scrutiny aimed astatine her emotion beingness and larger-than-life fame — alternatively than the songstress herself, who does not look successful the video.

The video, which has been exclusively released via Spotify Premium and Apple Music, includes scenes from “Father of the Bride,” “Rhapsody,” “Cat connected a Hot Tin Roof,” “Cleopatra,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” among different classical films starring Taylor. The homage besides has aged property footage of the Oscar winner.

Back successful October, Swift told BBC vigor that if she mentions a existent idiosyncratic successful her songs, she warns them up of time, and successful the lawsuit of idiosyncratic similar the precocious movie star, she asked the Taylor property for support to wage homage with the song.

“If it’s Elizabeth Taylor,” she said, “we spell to their household and her property and fto them know, and they were beauteous astir it.”