This is my new favorite photo ^^ of Taylor Swift. It’s like she thought the red carpet for the ACMs was a catwalk and she was working that bitch for all it was worth. Anyway, Taylor is currently 24 years old. She’s been a celebrity and a working musician/songwriter for almost a decade. She’s headlined massive tours and she’s one of the richest women in music today. But does Taylor still have issues with her “stage parents”? That’s the question Page Six tries to answer. Just FYI: in the past, back when Taylor was 17/18 years old, I heard that her mom was very controlling and micro-managing, but I thought Taylor had sort of outgrown that and she was now in charge of her life/career. But maybe not.
Taylor Swift’s mom and dad are being accused of becoming “difficult and controlling stage parents” as they assume total power over her career — even though they have technically separated.
Sources tell Page Six that Scott and Andrea Swift have edged out numerous senior staff members at their company, 13 Management, as well as agents at CAA and WME. Last month, Taylor’s publicist of nearly seven years, Paula Erickson, resigned after giving 60 days’ notice. Taylor’s business managers Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy also resigned last year. She is currently repped by AEG for touring and IMG.
Meanwhile, we’re told that Scott and Andrea live separately and don’t see eye-to-eye.
One source said: “Taylor’s parents are incredibly difficult to deal with. Their expectations are enormous, and they are very hard to please. They want to pay as little as possible and treat people like s - - t, because they think those people are lucky to have the chance to work with a superstar like Taylor.
“Taylor’s parents think they can do things better, and what makes things complicated is that they no longer live together,” our insider said. “They are not on the same page and don’t even like to be in the same room. Andrea requests that her husband not be present at meetings. Taylor is incredibly smart and professional, but at some point she’s going to need her parents to stop, before it turns into a total Katherine Heigl ‘momager’ situation.”
Another source adds that the Swifts’ 13 Management has had a revolving door of top staff, managers and department heads. But Taylor has been working with tour manager Robert Allen for years and he is still with her.
Taylor’s parents, who married in 1988, have been living separately but did not divorce “because they don’t want to damage Taylor’s career,” according to Star. Taylor, who recently moved to a new pad in Tribeca, is currently recording her fifth album. Reps for 13 Management and Taylor’s label, Big Machine, did not comment. Erickson declined to comment.
I remember her publicist leaving, but I didn’t remember the part about Swifty’s business partner resigning last year too. Yes, this is a Katherine Heigl situation and much like Heigl, Taylor is too old for her mommy and daddy to be running the show. Taylor has access to the best management in the industry, and it’s past time for Taylor to call the shots about her career and make her own decisions about who speaks for her. Also: maybe this is what the New York apartment is about. Maybe Taylor’s trying to build a homebase in NYC, away from her mom?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I thought she was pretty tight with her mom. Despite how she behaves she’s starting an adult. I don’t care how much money this chick brings in, life is too short for that bullsh*t.
She’s 24 freaking years old! Why do her parents have any say in the management of her career?
I agree! She’s been in the business long enough now and is certainly old enough to be calling the shots and making her own decisions.
I agree! 24? You’re a grown ass lady! Put on your big girl panties grow a pair and dont have that crap mangled in your career. Hire professionals and take your parents off the payroll. Sure ask advice from time to time but relaying on parents at 24? I used to thonk she was smart and Davy but clearly she’s weak “yes gal”
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this and I’ve been a fan of Taylor’s for about six years now. I definitely get the vibe that her mother especially wants to be a big part of Taylor’s career and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
She looks beautiful.
Why would her parents divorcing damage her career? I know she wants a good girl image, but I don’t see how the divorce of other people would be her responsibility. Her parents sound…unusual. I hope she gets away from them.
I think we have to read between the lines…maybe there are other people involved or something. Country fans can be very conservative and the fact that Taylor is a good girl from a good fam means something.
On another note has anyone else ever heard that Taylor’s well connected dad was a big part of her initial success in Nashville? Maybe that is why the parents continue to be I involved because they had to be at the start to get her noticed.
Is Swifty really that dependent on country fans? I mean, she tries to make her image “country star” but surely in reality her base is Top 100 and pop?
It’s pretty well known here in Nashville that her daddy bought her a spot on her first major tour and paid for her first album to be recorded and promoted. He’s clearly gotten his investment back but I very much hope her parents micromanaging gets her off country radio. I hate hearing her terrible songs and mediocre singing when she belongs on pop radio
Random observation: I feel like parents of celebrities who start out fairly young in the business ALWAYS divorce.
Lindsay Lohan
Britney Spears
Jessica Simpson
Beyonce
Hilary Duff
Taylor Swift (separated)
and so on…
The lifestyle puts a lot of pressure on families.
Really good observation there! I would have no doubt greed/money plays a big part in the separations too.
I was thinking the same thing – it must be high stress. I also suspect that there’s so much family focus on making the child a star, when that happens and the kid grows up, it’s like “well, now what?”
I would hope that she is smart enough to have the right people working for her, and if that means her parents can’t be anything other than her parents, so be it.
Let me get this straight. Swifty’s parents have no prior experience in show business before their child made it big, but they think they are best qualified to make these kinds of decisions regarding her career? Another case of parents wanting to live off their mega successful children because their kids can afford a lifestyle that Mom and/or Dad couldn’t achieve on their own. (I thought her parents were wealthy anyway.) In the end said parents don’t know what they’re doing, and it shows in the failed business plans. Swifty better put her foot down before her parents put her in the poor house.
They both have high-level financial industry backgrounds. They made a lot of money on their own.
I was under the impression her father bankrolled her career. They moved to the Nashville area for her.Her parents bought a three percent stake in the record company she signed with.
I think this is a little different than the usual momager issues.
And am I the only one who finds it screwed up that her parents wont divorce because it might hurt her career?
I was coming to say that growing up and being emotionally independent is a process and I can’t fault Taylor for not being quite done yet. I was still trying to figure out how to interact with my parents as an equal at that age and I didn’t have the added pressure of having uprooted their lives and putting stress and pressure on their marriage to chase my dreams. Obviously I don’t think Taylor is responsible for any of her parents’ issues, but she probably feels like she is and feels greatly indebted to them. So she’s financially independent, but probably still has some emotional stuff to work out. TL; DR…I agree with you.
“I was still trying to figure out how to interact with my parents as an equal at that age…”
If I ever attempted to interact with either of my parents as an equal I would be set straight immediately. I’m one of those people that don’t believe parents should be seen as “friends” with their kids no matter what the age, which is probably a result of how I was raised. There will always be issues I’d feel weird discussing with my mom because of the mother-daughter relationship. Regardless, she’s pretty much my favorite human being on the Earth. Love that lady!
By equals I meant as adults. I love and respect my parents, but I’m grown. I make my own decisions and choices and I don’t always do what they want me to or think I should. Which is the way it should be. It just took time for us to get there–time for me to no longer feel I had to do what they said and time for them to accept that as an adult I may do things differently, but it doesn’t mean I’m rejecting them. As for things I’d never talk to them about…mostly I’m thinking of sex but I wouldn’t talk to any friends about that either.
HH – I get what you’re saying, but at a certain point parents needs to realize their kids are adults eventually, and not only that, that their kids might know better than them occasionally. My parents were my parents growing up, never friends, but now that I’m nearing 30, I can definitely say that while they are still my parents, they treat me as an adult and an equal now. It is great, having an adult relationship with my parents, rather than a parent-child relationship. I can finally see them as “people”, who have had their own experiences through life etc. My husband still has a parent-child relationship with his parents, and he’s in his mid 30s. It can be pretty frustrating for us because his parents still think they “know best” and his mom is constantly upset at us for the things we do with our lives (even though we have our shit together and have a pretty awesome life together).
Maybe I’m just being a cynical beyotch this morning, but could this story be planted by Taylor herself (indirectly) as a passive-aggressive way of communicating to her patents that things are no longer working with them and creating public drama that will force them to back off?
If any of this is true, the divorce is going to be epic. It will boil down to money because there is lots of it that is around. Between the family money and Taylor’s wealth, mud is going to be slung and I feel for her. No child, minor or adult, should have a divorce laid before their feet.
If there is one thing that is consistent, with the parents being in charge of everything. It is always about the money and full control of the talent. Especially when there is this much success.
As long as there is an independent accountant, doing her year end audit…. Taylor will not be screwed by the crazy of her parents behavior, financially. She is the boss. They are her employee’s. So lets all hope she realizes that and has the bulk of her income in her control, only.
But it could really help explain why Taylor lacks more maturity. She has her parents in her business 24/7. And that is not such a positive thing, for a girl to gain some much needed ability to read people and their motives. Or the ability to out grow the teenage mentality.
Most people don’t know, but she comes from wealth. Her dad is a rich dude, so I can see him having opinions, especially with money/business management.
I don’t know, I think the only people that don’t know this are her delusional twangy pop fans who fell for and enjoy the illusion that she’s a country gal who came from nothing and worked her way to the top with God, grit, and determination. The truth hurts.
Taylor has never hid or lied about her background. There’s no illusion; her image is more perfect princess than gritty country gal and her upbringing fits into that. And why would the truth hurt? Coming from a successful family is something to proud of, not ashamed of.
Why is having parents who made money in the financial industry and bankrolled your career something to be more proud of than having parents who are teachers or police officers? It’s supposed to be your own talent and determination that make you who you are. Moreover, Swift began her career singing about pickup trucks and other hallmarks of a life that she never came from. She played up the small town girl who rode horses and played guitar side of her upbringing, not the moneyed truth of it. I remember one article where they went out of their way to say that she went to the prom in a thirty dollar prom gown. So yes, she does manipulate her image like any famous person.
This story only confirms what i’ve been hearing for years now.
I volunteer for the entertainment department a festival/fair of sorts where we get some big name acts. The acts are often signed on before the Grammys are announced and the festival is after so if one of these acts we have under contract for a set price does hit it big we’ve got a huge crowd.
Anyways, Swifty was one of these acts. I wasn’t with the entertainment group then, but her diva mother and the antics are still legendary. No other act has been so aggressive in their manager… with maybe 1 exception.
So, this story sounds right.
Dish!
anything you can dish about?…like details about the antics..lol
Yeah Florc, I wouldn’t mind if you dished some more either :O).
Don’t be a tease, Florc! 😉
This explains a lot — as big as Swifty’s career is, it could be bigger still. Her reliance on her parents is holding her back, imo.
All I have to say is, what a lucky duck that she bought an apartment in Tribeca :(. That’s always been the place I’d want to live if I ever lived in New York.
I don’t think many child stars had it as bad as Brooke Shields did with her toxic alcoholic mother. As a pre-pubescent, Brooke’s mom Teri allowed her to pose for nude photos, and do nude scenes in a movie where she played a child prostitute – one scene included the auctioning off of her virginity.
Her mom then signed her on to two very sexual and controversial roles in her mid teens. The worst part was Teri would send out Brooke as a young child to defend these decisions, because Teri was always too drunk off her ass to do it.
I wasn’t until she was in her 30s and married to Andre Agassi that she, with his encouragement, fired her mother.
So agree with the observations that while I think Taylor has competent folks around her,totally cutting off her folks from all business decisions will be traumatic. Glad her tour manager is still with her, bec touring is where the $$ is made.
My favorite story re Grammy winners honoring prior contracts was years ago, when Dixie Chicks won their first Grammy, I think Natalie M was asked “What’s next?” and she said something like”We get on a plane to St Louis to play a Bar Mitzah”( know I’ve spelled it incorrectly)- always thought- lucky kids!
She is 24 years old. Surely, she doesn’t rely on her parents for this. i hope this is just gossip and doesn’t turn into a Katherine Hegel situation.
Taylor’s mom had to accompany her to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show rehearsals, supposedly to approve of Taylor’s wardrobe because she didn’t want Taylor to dress too sexy on the show. Taylor is 24 years old, was invited to headline the Victoria’s Secret show, but she had to bring along her mom to pick out her clothes for her. How embarrassing.