Taylor Swift has faced backlash online after a video emerged of her receiving a police escort down a Toronto highway before performing on her sold-out Eras Tour.
The video captured the moment when his caravan moved down the road without other cars in front.
Critics claimed the freeway was “completely closed” to “clear it for Taylor Swift,” but police argued that was not the case.
“This is an obscene waste of taxpayer money and a hindrance to those same taxpayers, and dangerous because it is a hindrance to emergency services,” one critic wrote.
Footage showed traffic lagging behind Swift’s entourage with a delay of 10 to 20 seconds.
A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Department said the highway was subject to “rolling closures,” which are enforced for the safety of high-profile celebrities coming to the city.
‘Taylor Swift’s escort yesterday is part of the overall security plan for her concert series in Toronto. The caravan was largely made up of vehicles that are part of their own security; “those large SUVs are not TPS vehicles,” the spokesperson said.
‘We had several motorcycles and reconnaissance cars available for approximately 20 minutes to make continuous closures as they passed; there were no complete closures at any time.
The video captured the moment when his caravan was traveling down the road without other cars in front.
Swift to perform six sold-out shows in Toronto before an estimated 500,000 people
“Taylor Swift has a large active following and, for public safety reasons, we are making it easier for her to move around the city.”
In Toronto, standard police practice is to charge fees for police escorts, ranging from $90 per hour per officer involved to $112.50 per hour.
A rolling closure means that traffic is reduced and controlled on certain parts of the road to clear sections and create a small gap in traffic.
A car drove between each lane to prevent traffic from speeding up and overtaking or catching up to the Swift team.
However, traffic was very congested for motorists traveling in the opposite direction.
“Few things are worse than being stuck in traffic for nothing,” noted one X user.
Others thought the treatment was the same as a president would receive.
“She brought millions in revenue to Toronto and it’s worth it,” said one supporter.
“It’s fair because it’s contributing almost $400 million to the local economy,” another agreed.
The singular line of cars, the Swift motorcade, had a 10 to 20 second lead on the rest of the traffic.
She was greeted with wild applause when she came to Toronto’s Roger Center on Thursday night and told the crowd: “This is why everyone loves Canadians.”
He performed to a sold-out crowd Thursday night.
Once Swift and his team left the road, so did the car that stopped the flow of high-speed traffic.
As the motorcade moved toward the stadium, crowds gathered on the road hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star.
Swift will perform six sold-out shows in Toronto before an estimated 500,000 people.
She was greeted with wild applause when she came to Toronto’s Roger Center on Thursday night and told the crowd: “This is why everyone loves Canadians.”