They’ve got “Bad Blood” between them now.
A Philippine lawmaker has lashed out at Singapore over an alleged exclusivity deal it brokered with Taylor Swift to prevent the 34-year-old pop star from taking her coveted “Eras Tour” to other countries in Southeast Asia.
As the “Bad Blood” hit-maker geared up to headline six sold-out shows in Singapore starting this past Saturday, Phillippines Rep. Joey Salceda asked his country’s Department of Foreign Affairs to formally protest her camp’s reported arrangement with Singapore.
“This isn’t what good neighbors do,” Salceda said in a statement, according to the Straights Times.
Reports of an exclusivity deal came after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group told him the Singapore government offered Swift’s camp up to $3 million for each concert there — as long as she didn’t tour other Southeast Asia countries.
“Some $3 million in grants were allegedly given by the Singapore government to AEG to host the concert in Singapore. The catch was that they do not host it elsewhere in the region. If true, [this] isn’t what good neighbors do,” Salceda said, according to GMA Network.
Salceda noted that while the concerts boost Singapore’s economy, the purported deal comes “at the expense of neighboring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concert-goers and whose fans had to go to Singapore.”
He said the Philippines should not “just let things like these pass.”
Salceda said the country should “officially register” its opposition to Singapore’s reputed deal, which he says goes against the Association of Southeast Nations, a diplomatic group involving the 10 Southeast Asian nations.
“Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt,” Salceda said.
The lawmaker later conceded that the Philippines should have been more aggressive in pursuing concert-related ventures to drive its own economic activity.
Officials in Singapore confirmed the concerts had the support of authorities but stopped short of sharing how much money may be being paid to the 34-year-old pop star.
Switft’s “Eras Tour” was the first to cross the $1 billion mark last year, bringing in a stunning $1.04 billion with 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 tour dates. The singer has since added additional dates, with more than 150 shows scheduled to last through the end of the year.
Swift’s concerts cause mini-economic booms wherever they go, driving up hotel bookings in cities across the globe ahead of each sold-out show.
More than 300,000 tickets have been sold for the singer’s stint in Singapore, which runs through March 9.
