Bluebird Cafe Manager Speaks Out About Claim Olivia Rodrigo and Her Team Asked Them to Remove Taylor Swift Photos

NEED TO KNOW

• The manager of the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville spoke out following reports that they were asked to remove photos of Taylor Swift by Olivia Rodrigo’s team when she performed there

• An employee claimed that the cafe “vowed to remove any visible signs of Taylor Swift” for the ‘Vampire’ singer in 2023

• Fans speculated that there had been a feud between the artists for years after Rodrigo added Swift for songwriting credits on two songs, following claims of how similar they sounded

The manager of Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe is speaking out following reports of Olivia Rodrigo’s team asking to remove pictures of Taylor Swift at their restaurant.

In a video shared to X on Wednesday, June 18, the general manager and COO, Erica Nichols, said she would “bring some truth” to “questions and discussion” online.

“We did have a filming with Olivia Rodrigo here. Olivia’s people did not ask us to remove an image of Taylor Swift. Nobody did. We removed an image of Taylor Swift that was in a position where the filming was taking place,” she began.

“When we have filmings, we are required legally to remove images that are under copyright. We don’t own those images, so we cannot give permission for those images to be used in any kind of broadcast. That’s the sole reason that the photograph was removed from the place it stood.”

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Nichols went on to explain that the employee who “spoke out of turn” about it didn’t understand why the picture was taken down. “He spoke carelessly and haphazardly about it, maybe trying to be funny, I don’t know. But irregardless, that image was removed for legal reasons.”

The manager noted that the rest of the images of Swift, 35, stayed in place, and that other pictures in the room also needed to be removed.

“Please understand this was not anything in between two artists. We support all songwriters, all artists and give them equal share. Taylor is a super friend of the Bluebird, and we hold her in the highest esteem. We were honored to have Olivia here, and please know they both live extremely high in our regard,” Nichols continued, asking fans not to get upset about any confusion.

“It was a mistake on the part of the employee, and I’m here to clear that up so you know that this was something that we were just required to do for legal reasons,” she added.

“Thank you so much for listening,” Nichols concluded. “Please know that we at the Bluebird Café support Taylor. We support Olivia and we’re grateful for your support.”

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The Bluebird Cafe manager spoke out following a video circulating online where an employee claimed that the restaurant removed “any visible sign of Taylor Swift before [Rodrigo] performed there in 2023.”

In the clip, the employee claimed that Rodrigo, 22, performed ahead of her Guts album drop. “And what happened before she started playing? What did you guys do? What was the amendment that you made?” someone off-camera asked.

“We vowed to remove any visible signs of Taylor Swift,” the employee claimed. “It’s that serious?” the off-camera voice asked. “We respect the girlies,” the employee responded.

Fans began to speculate online that there was bad blood between the artist, following rumors that Rodrigo wrote “Vampire” about Swift. “I was very surprised when people thought that,” she told The Guardian in 2023.

“I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t,” Rodrigo added. “I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”

She previously gushed about Swift. “I would just love to just be in a studio with Taylor,” Rodrigo said on Apple Music 1’s The Travis Mills Show in 2021. “I don’t even have to write with her. I just want to watch how she does it because I just think she’s such a genius.”

Swift is credited on two of her songs from her Guts album, “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” and “Deja Vu,” which reference Swift’s “New Year’s Day” and “Cruel Summer,” respectively, and now have the 14-time Grammy winner listed for songwriting credits.

Rodrigo further denied any beef with Swift in 2023 in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I don’t have beef with anyone,” she told the publication. “I’m very chill. I keep to myself. I have my four friends and my mom, and that’s really the only people I talk to, ever. There’s nothing to say.”

“There’s so many Twitter conspiracy theories,” added Rodrigo of online rumors. “I only look at alien-conspiracy theories.”

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