Taylor Swift's camp hit a Florida college student with a cease-and-desist letter that blamed his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers as to her location. In the December letter, attorneys from the law firm Venable accused Jack Sweeney, a junior studying information technology at the University of Central Florida, of providing "individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans." Sweeney provided the link to that letter in an email to The Associated Press. In that message, he emphasized that while he has never intended to cause harm, he also believes strongly in the importance of transparency and public information. "One should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I'm the one doing it, as it is public information after all," he wrote. A spokesperson for Swift echoed the legal complaint, saying that "the timing of stalkers" suggests a connection to Sweeney's flight-tracking sites. The spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking elaboration of that charge. Sweeney's automated tracking accounts merely repackage public data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, a government agency. That fact did not dissuade the Venable attorneys, who demanded that Sweeney "immediately stop providing information about our client's location to the public." The Swift spokesperson did not reply to a question inquiring whether the attorneys had issued the same demand to the FAA.
Actress Gina Carano sued Lucasfilm and its parent The Walt Disney Co. over her 2021 firing from "The Mandalorian," claiming Tuesday she was let go for expressing right-wing views on social media. The lawsuit Carano filed in federal court in California claims her wrongful termination from the "Star Wars" galaxy Disney+ streaming series after two seasons over a post likening the treatment of American conservatives to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The lawsuit claims she was fired because she "dared voice her own opinions" against an "online bully mob who demanded her compliance with their extreme progressive ideology." Disney and Lucasfilm have not filed a response to the lawsuit, and representatives did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. A Lucasfilm statement at the time of her firing said "her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable." Carano is seeking damages to be determined at trial and a court order that she be recast on the show.