{"id":248068,"date":"2026-04-02T06:37:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248068\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:37:17","slug":"taylor-swift-drops-elizabeth-taylor-video-sued-over-showgirl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248068\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift drops ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ video, sued over ‘Showgirl’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The life of a showgirl wouldn\u2019t be complete without a few lawsuits, and who knows that better than Taylor Swift<\/a> and Elizabeth Taylor<\/a>? <\/p>\n

On Monday, the \u201cBad Blood<\/a>\u201d singer was hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit regarding her most recent album, \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl.\u201d Real-life Las Vegas showgirl and writer Maren Wade, born Maren Flagg, alleges that Swift knowingly disregarded her claim to a similar name.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, Wade launched the column \u201cConfessions of a Showgirl<\/a>\u201d in the Las Vegas Weekly in 2014. The column eventually became a live show, which became a touring production. \u201cOver the course of a decade, Confessions of a Showgirl grew into a brand encompassing performances, writing, and digital media \u2014 built by one person, city by city and show by show,\u201d reads the lawsuit, which adds that Wade took the show across the country, and used the brand when appearing on television and podcasts.<\/p>\n

Wade as a performer herself respects Swift\u2019s right to creative expression, according to the suit, \u201cand nothing in this action challenges it.\u201d The filing argues that \u201cwhatever [legal] protection might attach to creative expression, it does not immunize Swift\u2019s separate decision to adopt a confusingly similar designation as a trademark, affix it to goods, and deploy it as a source identifier in commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered<\/a> \u201cConfessions of a Showgirl\u201d and named Maren Flagg as the owner. And according to the suit, in November 2025, the office refused an attempt by Swift\u2019s team to register \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d based on a likelihood of confusion with Wade\u2019s established brand. <\/p>\n

Patent attorney JD Harriman told The Times in a statement that although the trademark office did reject Swift\u2019s mark, she voluntarily suspended the \u201cLife of a Showgirl\u201d application while a separate trademark application for \u201cShowgirl\u201d moved forward. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis case isn\u2019t about the music, and it may not even be about confusion,\u201d Harriman said. \u201cWade\u2019s own complaint concedes she\u2019s not challenging the album itself \u2014 only merchandise. And before filing, she was publicly hashtagging Swift\u2019s album and calling herself a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaymie Parkkinen<\/a>, an attorney for Wade, told The Times in an emailed statement that Maren spent more than a decade building Confessions of a Showgirl.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe registered it. She earned it. When Taylor Swift\u2019s team applied to register The Life of a Showgirl, the Trademark Office refused, finding Swift\u2019s mark confusingly similar,\u201d Parkkinen said. \u201cWe have great respect for Swift\u2019s talent and success, but trademark law exists to ensure that creators at all levels can protect what they\u2019ve built. That\u2019s what this case is about.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wade\u2019s team argues that since Swift\u2019s 12th album dropped last year, search results are dominated by Swift, and even though Wade established her own showgirl brand a decade ago, her brand is now seen as affiliated with Swift\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Life of a Showgirl is one designation among more than 170 active or pending trademark registrations managed by Defendant TAS on behalf of Swift, spanning names, phrases, and commercial designations across one of the most extensive trademark portfolios in the entertainment industry,\u201d reads the suit. <\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s broader enterprise \u201cdoes not depend on the continued use of any single designation,\u201d the suit continues. \u201cBy contrast, Confessions of a Showgirl is the sole trademark under which [Wade] has built her professional identity for more than a decade. It is not one mark among hundreds. It is the only one she has. The continued erosion of that mark threatens the entirety of Wade\u2019s brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other Swift news, the Grammy winner dropped the music video for \u201cElizabeth Taylor<\/a>\u201d on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The video features archival film clips of the latter starlet \u2014 also known for high-profile legal battles<\/a>, media scrutiny aimed at her love life<\/a> and larger-than-life fame<\/a> \u2014 rather than the songstress herself, who does not appear in the video.<\/p>\n

The video, which has been exclusively released via Spotify Premium and Apple Music, includes scenes from \u201cFather of the Bride,\u201d \u201cRhapsody,\u201d \u201cCat on a Hot Tin Roof,\u201d \u201cCleopatra,\u201d and \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u201d among other classic films starring Taylor. The homage also has old press footage of the Oscar winner.<\/p>\n

Back in October, Swift told BBC radio<\/a> that if she mentions a real person in her songs, she warns them ahead of time, and in the case of someone like the late movie star, she asked the Taylor estate for permission to pay homage with the song. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s Elizabeth Taylor,\u201d she said, \u201cwe go to their family and her estate and let them know, and they were lovely about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The life of a showgirl wouldn\u2019t be complete without a few lawsuits, and who knows that better than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[23983,23417,110697,9747,93737,48,52,51,1846,1637,60493,47,50,49,39734,10639,11469,10234,110698,5050,110696],"class_list":{"0":"post-248068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-album","9":"tag-brand","10":"tag-confessions","11":"tag-decade","12":"tag-elizabeth-taylor","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-headlines","15":"tag-la-news","16":"tag-lawsuit","17":"tag-life","18":"tag-live-show","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-mark","23":"tag-showgirl","24":"tag-suit","25":"tag-taylor-swift","26":"tag-trademark-office","27":"tag-video","28":"tag-wade"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}