Topics: Taylor Swift, Viral, Music, Texas
A man who was slammed by much of the internet for smashing up a $4,000 Taylor Swift guitar has spoken out.
Swifties were left raging after watching a video of an incident that took place at an event known as the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner in Waxahachie, Texas, over the weekend.
The Ellis County Wild Game Dinner held an auction as part of their mission to help the youth, with one item being a 'guitar autographed by country music star Taylor Swift'.
I mean, any Swift fan would be dying to get their hands on this, and many would have paid a lot of money to get their hands on it.
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The guitar was decorated in pictures of the 'Blank Space' singer during her worldwide Eras Tour.
The instrument caught the attention of one particular man, who forked out a whopping $4,000 to purchase it.
While doubt remains about if Swift personally signed the guitar, any Swiftie would die for the instrument.
However, the man, who has since been identified as 67-year-old Gary Estes, wasn't taking the guitar home.
With a hammer in hand, Estes decided to plough into the wood of the popular instrument.
Footage of the man battering the instrument quickly went viral, with many suggesting the move may be politically motivated.
Ahead of the November election, Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Estes has now spoken out following the backlash, insisting the incident was a joke.
"It was just a joke at an auction that we had to raise money for kids, right? And that's all it was," he told NBC News.
"There was nothing mean about it, nothing bad about it. It was just a joke that they were making up on the stage, and we just followed through with a joke."
While many found the viral video shocking, Craig Meier, a spokesperson for the event, told NBC News the incident was 'light-hearted'.
He said: "It was a funny, light-hearted thing. I know maybe it seemed to be malicious, but everybody was laughing," Meier said. "There were people there, at the time, who joked around that he's mad because he doesn't know how to play the guitar."
The auctioneer claimed it was an obvious political statement.
He added: "Taylor Swift, it became a political thing, and that was kind of the gist of it, just a light-hearted bit of a dig at Taylor for coming out politically and entertainers using their influence to influence politics."
