Taylor Swift has faced backlash online after a video surfaced of her getting a police escort down the highway in Toronto before performing on her sold-out Eras Tour.
The video was captured as her motorcade drove down the highway with no other cars in front.
Critics claimed the highway was ‘completely closed’ to ‘clear it for Taylor Swift’ – but police claimed this was not the case.
“This is an obscene waste of taxpayers’ money and a hindrance to those same taxpayers, and dangerous because it is an obstacle to emergency services,” one critic wrote.
Images showed that traffic was 10 to 20 seconds behind Swift’s entourage.
A Toronto Police spokesperson said the highway was instead the subject of “rolling closures,” which are enforced for the safety of high-profile celebrities arriving in the city.
“Taylor Swift’s escort yesterday is part of the overall security plan for her concert series in Toronto. The motorcade consisted largely of vehicles that are part of its own security – those large SUVs are not TPS vehicles,” the spokesperson said.
‘We provided several motorcycles and scout cars for about 20 minutes to carry out roll closures as they passed – there were no full closures at any time.
The video was captured as her motorcade drove down the highway with no other cars in front
Swift will perform six sold-out shows in Toronto for around 500,000 people
“Taylor Swift has a very large and active following, and for public safety reasons we are facilitating her movements around the city.”
In Toronto, it is standard practice for police to charge fees for police escorts, starting at $90 per hour per officer involved, and rising to $112.50 per hour.
A roll closure means that traffic is slowed and controlled on certain parts of the road to clear sections and create a short gap in traffic.
A car drove between each of the lanes to prevent traffic from speeding up and overtaking or overtaking Swift’s team.
However, traffic was heavily backed up for motorists traveling from the opposite direction.
“There are few things worse than getting into a stalemate for nothing,” one X user commented.
Others thought the treatment was equal to that of a president.
“She brought millions in revenue to Toronto, it’s worth it,” said one supporter.
“It’s fair because she’s injecting almost $400 million into the local economy,” another agreed.
The special line of cars – Swift’s column – had a lead of 10 to 20 seconds over the rest of the traffic
She was greeted with loud cheers when she went to the Roger Center in Toronto on Thursday evening and told the crowd: ‘This is why everyone loves Canadians’
On Thursday evening she performed for a sold-out audience
As Swift and her team exited the highway, the car also slowed the flow of high-speed traffic.
As the motorcade drove into the stadium, crowds of people gathered on the road hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star.
Swift will perform six sold-out shows in Toronto for around 500,000 people.
She was greeted with loud cheers when she went to the Roger Center in Toronto on Thursday evening and told the crowd: “This is why everyone loves Canadians.”