Taylor Swift fans have raised over $2million (£1.5million) for an aquarium after the singer wore a vintage shirt with an otter on it.
- READ MORE: Taylor Swift – ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ review: magical when the songwriter just lets herself be
The singer was spotted wearing a faded Monterey Bay Aquarium shirt with an illustrated graphic for sea otters in her ‘The Life Of A Showgirl‘ film, which was released in cinemas ahead of the album’s release.
It featured facts about the animals, including their Latin name (“Enhydra lutris”) and an illustrated list of their favourite foods.
Some fans have even interpreted it as a reference to her fiancé, Travis Kelce, after Swift said on his New Heights podcast: “All I really use the internet for is sourdough and when Travis shows me videos of otters on his Instagram algorithm.”
Now, the Monterey Bay Aquarium have responded to a flood of questions about the t-shirt by printing a new batch, featuring the original artwork from 1993.
View this post on Instagram
The Californian aquarium has made them available as part of a limited-time fundraising campaign for a minimum donation of $65.13 (the extra 13 cents being a nod to Swift’s favourite number).
Thanks to the Swifties, the campaign surpassed its $1.3million (£970k) goal in just seven hours, and the shirts were even placed on backorder due to the incredible demand. At time of publication, the fundraiser has now reached $2.3million (£1.7million).
“Your response was beyond our Wildest Dreams,” the aquarium wrote in a statement. “We hear you loud and clear, and we’re so grateful for the All Too Well kind of love this fundraising campaign has received.”
View this post on Instagram
It was recently reported that the film event grossed $15million (£11million) in pre-sales in the first 24 hours, outpacing the pre-sales of the hugely successful The Eras Tour concert film in 2023 in many territories. Deadline have estimated that the film will make between $30million and $50million worldwide.
Swift achieved her 15th US Number One record with ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
The album also set a new record for first-week sales with just over 4 million equivalent album units, breaking Adele’s long-held streaming-era record.
NME gave ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ three stars, writing: “To seek escapism is not a sin, but the best pop music makes the personal feel like life or death. ‘Speak Now’, ‘Reputation’, ‘Folklore’: her greatest works could be genuinely transformative. For the first time, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ sees Swift not catalysed into artistic growth by love, but merely comfortably secured by it.”
Elsewhere, Swift also recently announced a new six-part docuseries charting her record-breaking ‘Eras Tour’.
The post Taylor Swift fans raise over $2million for aquarium after she sports vintage otter t-shirt in ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ film appeared first on NME.