Taylor Swift performed ’22’ at MetLife Stadium. Swifties are rallying to defend a young fan after her family listed the autographed “22” hat that Taylor Swift gifted her on eBay.
Screenshots of the now-deleted listing show that the hat was from Swift’s May 2023 MetLife Stadium shows. The young girl was handpicked from a crowd of over 80,000 by a member of Swift’s team to stand at the end of the catwalk during the opening song of the Red set.
Each night, Swift takes the hat, which she has signed, from her own head and places it on the chosen fan’s head, sharing a sweet moment and a brief chat in the middle of the concert.
The listing included two photos of Swift and the young girl: one showing them clutching hands, and the other of Swift placing the hat on the girl’s head. The listing explained that the money earned would “Go Towards Her Collage [sic] Fund.”
Bidding started at $20,000, plus an additional $6.33 for shipping. Fans quickly criticized what many viewed as a “greedy” cash grab and “selfish” move on the family’s part—after confirming that it wasn’t a scam using stolen photos.
After identifying the family, some fans reached out to verify the listing’s legitimacy and were disappointed to find it was real—especially after discovering social media posts showing “multiple luxury cars and designer everything,” leading one to accuse them of being “insanely wealthy and just greedy.”
Others questioned how someone could “be so selfish and sell something that’s so precious to their child,” speculating that “the girl probably didn’t even have a say either.”
Some fans did defend the family, acknowledging the high cost of higher education, but still noted that the young fan likely wasn’t “old enough to really grasp the situation,” even if she consented to sell the hat.
As others imagined what they would do if they were “honored” to receive one of the hats, one person whose family received one wrote, “Our family is being buried with ours,” calling the move “sickening,” while someone else likened it to a “family heirloom.”
With such sentimental value placed on the item, many wondered who “in their right mind” would pay that kind of money for an item where the experience of receiving it holds most of the value.
“The people most likely to want a ’22’ hat are hardcore Swifties,” another wrote, pointing out that “hardcore Swifties” would be “revolted by the idea of selling the hat,” leaving few willing to buy—especially at that price point.
As fans continued to call out the family, leading to the listing’s removal, some also criticized the Swifties who contacted them, calling it “super weird behavior” and “none of our business.”
