Taylor Swift: Texas man who smashed guitar at auction explains why he did it

The Texas man who smashed Taylor Swift's supposedly “autographed” guitar has spoken out after paying thousands for it at auction.

In footage circulated this week, a man identified by US media as Gary Estes, 67, was seen approaching the stage where an auction employee was waiting with the machine, which was covered with photos of Swift from her record era. a trip.

He then proceeded to take the guitar, which he had listed at $4,000, and smashed the surface of the instrument with a hammer to the sound of the crowd's cheers.

The event, held in Ellis County, Texas, was a fundraiser to support agricultural education for local youth. The guitar, which came with a “certificate of authenticity”, was one of a number of items auctioned off along with tickets to see artists including Chris Stapleton and George Strait, and a trip on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

talking to NBC News On Tuesday (October 1), Estes said there was “nothing malicious” about the stunt and that he meant it to be a “joke,” while also confirming that he is a Trump supporter.

“It was just a joke at the auction that we had to raise money for the kids, wasn't it?” He said. “And that's all it was. There was nothing bad about it, nothing bad about it. It was just a joke they were making up on stage, and we followed it up with a joke.”

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Auctioneer Craig Mayer, a spokesman for the event, initially supported Estes' statements: “It was a funny, light-hearted thing.” “I know it probably sounded malicious, but everyone was laughing. There were people there [who] He joked that he was crazy because he didn't know how to play the guitar.

However, Mayer told the news site that, after speaking with Estes, he believes this is a clear political statement.

“Taylor Swift, she's become a political thing, and that was kind of the gist of it, just a light criticism of Taylor for being out politically and artists using their influence to influence politics,” he said.

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In September, Swift shared a long-running endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, while taking an apparent dig at Republican Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, over his infamous “cat lady with no kids” comments.

A few days after Swift's post, Trump tweeted “I hate Taylor Swift” in a message in all caps from his Truth Social account.

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In her endorsement, Swift said that artificial intelligence-generated fake photos suggesting she supports Trump, which the former president shared, influenced her decision to speak out.

“I recently learned that an AI falsely endorsing Donald Trump's candidacy for president was posted on his site,” she wrote.

“This has really raised my concerns about AI and the risks of spreading misinformation.

“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. “The simplest way to combat misinformation is the truth.”

Estes told NBC that he is a Trump supporter and was upset by Swift's endorsement of Harris: “Yes, you can connect the dots there.”

Since the incident, questions have been raised about the guitar's authenticity. Despite the supposed certification, sources close to SWIFT's trading firm confirmed this diverse That instrument was not signed by Swift.

TMZ Reports indicate that the guitar is now listed on eBay for an initial bid of $100 (£75), with proceeds from the sale going towards the same cause of supporting agricultural education for local youth.