Taylor Swift Takes Heat for Crown Deal

Pop singer Taylor Swift has been criticized for partnering with Crown Resorts as part of her 2023 Australian tour stop. Anti-gambling activists say the alliance will encourage gambling among her young fans.

Taylor Swift Takes Heat for Crown Deal

Anti-gambling activists are pouncing on superstar Taylor Swift for choosing Crown Resorts as the sponsor for the Australian leg of her global “Eras” tour.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Swift’s Australian concerts will be “presented by Crown.” Crown insists the partnership is not with Crown casinos but with the Crown Metropol hotel. That property will get a block of pre-sale concert tickets that allow fans to purchase them as part of a hotel package.

The firm was bought by U.S.-based financial firm Blackstone last June following investigations that showed it ran afoul of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations.

Regulators in three states—New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia—found the organization unfit to hold gaming licenses, but allowed it to continue operating following comprehensive management and governance changes.

Tim Costello of the Alliance for Gambling Reform said Swift should be aware that working with Crown could damage her reputation. “Her management should do due diligence, she’s paying them big dollars. The royal commission was front page news here in Australia, so it’s one click.”
But Monash University Associate Professor Charles Livingstone said the partnership could work for Crown as the brand looks to restore its public image.

“This is an attempt to propagandize a music identity, a popular star, and to associate her with their brand,” he told the Herald. “What that does in marketing in the public health context is about normalizing their brand and making it seem like it’s something positive, supporting young people and music lovers.

“It’s not particularly subtle,” he continued, “but it associates Crown with something positive, rather than money laundering, criminal infiltration, exploitation of vulnerable people and massive fines for avoiding taxation and the law.”

“They are in desperate need of rehabilitation of their reputation, I don’t think there’s much doubt about that.”

Blackstone, which also owns the Hilton Hotel chain, has a broader plan to increase its brand positioning in music and the arts.