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JUST IN: Dave Portnoy gets handwritten note from Taylor Swift, wears globe-trotting Eras jacket
MIAMI — On Saturday night, Austin Swift delivered a handwritten note from his sister, Taylor Swift, to Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy seated in the VIP section of the Eras Tour floor.
Austin told Portnoy, “Hey, my mom wants to meet you.”
Andrea Swift came over and hugged him, almost bringing the entrepreneur and internet personality to tears. In a video shared to Instagram, Portnoy recaps the core-memory moment.
“It was spectacular,” he said in a reel recapping the show, “and I should be on cloud nine, but this girl kind of went viral recently trashing me, and being like, ‘I’m a fake Swiftie. Swifties should hate this guy. More importantly, Taylor’s camp hates Dave.'”
The viral TikTok post he’s referring to came from fan @thatserynsworld and garnered about 50,000 likes. That account is now private. Portnoy shared a portion of the video on Instagram and confessed her message upset him. He’s been an ardent supporter of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Swift endorsed Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris in September.
“I’m gonna give her a free pass,” he said. “For all Swifties, let’s just practice love.”
Portnoy explained how Austin Swift handed him a handwritten note from the superstar. She penned Portnoy’s name on the white envelope and drew a shining star. The other side included a turquoise “13” wax stamp.
“I’m so happy to have you at the show tonight!” Swift wrote on the card stock. “I wanted to say thank you for always being so supportive, so loyal and for having my back when a lot of people didn’t. I hope you have a blast tonight!! Love, Taylor.” Although he didn’t meet her, he met her mom and brother.
The Miami concert was Portnoy’s second show. He went to the Eras Tour concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 26, 2023.
Before that show, the he purchased a custom-made jacket on eBay for $200. He wore the gray denim to the show and passed it on to a fan to wear on May 27, 2023. That fan passed it on and so on. A Swiftie-hood of the traveling jacket was born as fans, one-by-one, handed it off to someone attending the succeeding show.