A lawsuit says Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, has stolen the spotlight from the life of a real one.
Las Vegas performer Maren Wade said in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in a Californian federal court on Tuesday that the glittery branding of Swift’s 2025 album was too close to the aesthetic of her own Confessions of a Showgirl, which was the name of a column she wrote on backstage life in the Las Vegas Weekly starting in 2014 and turned into a live show that she took on a national tour.
“Both share the same structure, the same dominant phrase, and the same overall commercial impression,” the lawsuit says.
“Both are used in overlapping markets and are directed at the same consumers.”
Wade is described as a “singer, songwriter, comedian, and writer” in the lawsuit filed under her legal name, Maren Flagg, and her “Showgirl” brand encompasses performances, writing and digital media.
The Life of a Showgirl was released in October and sold 4 million copies in its first week.
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album sold 4 million copies in its first week. (Supplied: Universal Music Group)
Its cover features Swift in Las Vegas cabaret garb and submerged in water, and it has an orange-and-mint-green colour scheme.
Wade appeared to embrace Swift’s use of the showgirl image initially, sharing Instagram posts that used Swift’s music, hashtags related to the album, and the mint-green colour scheme.
But Wade’s social media presence has gone silent in recent months.
Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is the company that manages Swift’s trademarks, her record label and its merchandising arm.
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The lawsuit said the album, its promotion and the products surrounding it caused “textbook reverse confusion: a junior user’s overwhelming commercial presence drowns out the senior user’s mark, until consumers begin to assume that the original is the imitation. What the plaintiff had built over 12 years, defendants threatened to swallow in weeks.”
A representative for Swift declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Wade and her attorney said the existence and trademark of “Confessions of a Showgirl” would not have escaped the notice of Swift’s team.
The lawsuit said the US Patent and Trademark Office declined to grant a trademark registration for Swift’s Life of a Showgirl due to potential confusion with the existing trademark.
A look at Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl
“Defendants were therefore placed on actual notice that their chosen designation was likely to be confused with a mark that already belonged to someone,” the lawsuit said. “They continued using it anyway.”
A letter issued by the office in early March said the application was suspended due to potential confusion with another pending trademark that was filed earlier by a third party, this time for “Showgirl”. It pertained to perfume. It also cited a “Likelihood of Confusion Refusal” based on the existing “Confessions” trademark.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction permanently barring Swift and her companies from using the Life of a Showgirl name and imagery, and monetary damages to be determined at trial, including profits attributable to the use of the brand.
AP