Taylor Swift praised after giving $197,000,000 in bonuses to staff who worked Eras Tour
Taylor Swift has been praised after she gave some hugely generous tips to her Eras Tour staff this week.
On Sunday, the iconic tour - which started back in 2023 - drew to a close, following a whopping 149 shows over the course of 21 months.
It's been a monumental success for Swift, with the tour breaking records for the highest grossing of all time, raking in more than $2 billion in ticket sales.
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Of course, while Swift is the star of the show, there's a whole host of other people who work hard making the tour what it is, including techs, lighting teams, production staff, security, drivers, dancers, the band, choreographers, hair and makeup teams as well as camera and video staff.
And Swift has made a huge effort to show her appreciation, with PEOPLE reporting that the singer has dished out $197 million in bonuses to everyone working on the tour over the last couple of years.
During her final show in Vancouver this weekend, Swift took the opportunity to say thank you in person, telling crowds: "We have toured the entire world.
“We have had so many adventures. It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I've ever done in my entire life.
“... I want to thank every single one of you for being a part of the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date — my beloved Eras Tour.”
Back in 2023, at the end of the US leg of the tour, it was reported that Swift had gifted each of her drivers $100,000 each.
Around 50 production truck drivers have been responsible for hauling all of the equipment across the country, so as Swift prepared to finish off the US leg of her tour she decided it was time to express her gratitude.
Sources familiar with the tour told TMZ the singer handed out six-figure checks to each trucker as an 'end of tour bonus', with each driver given a whopping $100,000.
With 50 drivers involved in the operation, that suggests Swift shelled out about $5 million to those helping bring the show together.
People have been quick to praise Swift for her generosity, with one commenting: "Wow. Just wow. A role model."
And another said: "First Class Performance Artist and human being in every regard. Well paid and appreciated coworkers make very happy and productive people."
It's not just her Eras Tour where Swift has been generously handing out tips.
Last week, while watching Travis Kelce at one of his Kansas City Chiefs games, Swift surprised one fan with a FaceTime call after handing out tips to workers.
Posting on TikTok, @suziedrew, who is married to one of the Chiefs' security guards, William, explained: "We know that Taylor is going to be there - if she's not on tour, it's a home game, she's going to be there.
"I've always told William, if you get the opportunity to just say, 'my wife says hi', something like that, never really thought anything into it.
"But it just so happens that tonight she was handing out tips to the workers, and to the security, and somehow or another we ended up FaceTiming.
"... My husband had a conversation with her when he initially declined her very generous tip but she insisted."
Topics: Taylor Swift, Money, Entertainment
Lucy Devine