Taylor Swift is being sued by real-life Las Vegas showgirl Maren Wade
Topics: Taylor Swift, Celebrity, Music, US News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Topics: Taylor Swift, Celebrity, Music, US News
A Las Vegas performer has taken legal action against Taylor Swift.
In a lawsuit filed in March, showgirl Maren Wade accused the singer of copyright infringement, claiming the title of Swift's latest album bears too much of a resemblance to the name of her online column.
Swift, 36, released her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October 2025. The Grammy-winner previously claimed the 12-song record had been inspired by her sell-out Eras Tour, as well as her romantic relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce.
In Wade's view, however, the title for Swift's album had to have been inspired by the title of her Las Vegas Weekly column, Confessions of a Showgirl, in which she documents the highs and lows of her career as a performer.
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The America's Got Talent star kick-started the popular vlog in 2014. Since then, it's evolved into a podcast and live show under the same name.
In a lawsuit viewed by E! News, Wade claimed she'd registered the name Confessions of a Showgirl over 11 years ago with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
"After years of continuous use, the mark achieved incontestable status, a statutory recognition of the goodwill Plaintiff earned through her sustained, personal effort," one document reads. "For more than a decade, Confessions of a Showgirl identified a single source: Plaintiff."
It adds, however, that following the release of Swift's album, 'the designation was affixed to consumer goods, stamped onto labels, tags, and packaging, and deployed as a source identifier across retail channels—all directed at the same audience Plaintiff had spent years cultivating'.
In her suit, Wade accused the two titles of sharing the same structure and providing equal 'overall commercial impression'.
Attempting to evidence her claims, she alleges that Swift's attempt to trademark her album's name had been refused by the USPTO, who 'refused on the ground that Defendants’ designation is confusingly similar to Plaintiff’s established mark'.
The document added: "Defendants were therefore placed on actual notice that their chosen designation was likely to be confused with a mark that already belonged to someone else."
Wade - who is seeking a trial - also hopes that a permanent injunction against using the name The Life of a Showgirl will be ordered in connection with goods or services in a manner likely to cause confusion.
She also hopes that a further preliminary injunction will be placed on the name until the suit is resolved, which will require the musician's team to cease and permanently discontinue use of the name, and for all the profits made related to the title, as well as various damages, to be awarded to her.
Tyla contacted Swift's representatives for comment.