Pop star Taylor Swift is the most famous woman on the planet.
Time named her its “Person of the Year” in 2023.
And this Florida man’s wild scheme to sneak into a Taylor Swift concert proved to be the worst idea possible.
Taylor Swift has dominated the pop culture scene in America and around the globe for years now.
This past year, her Eras Tour broke live music and concert movie records by substantial margins.
Her Eras Tour was the first music event to surpass $1 billion in revenue, making it the highest-grossing music tour in history and earning her a Guinness World Record.
It also made her a billionaire and the second-richest female music artist after Rihanna.
As of 2024, Taylor Swift has won 14 Grammys, 40 AMAs, 39 Billboard Music Awards, and 23 VMAs.
But she’s also made waves outside the music industry and across all cultural demographics.
Her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce dominated the media’s coverage of last year’s NFL season.
The first game she attended last season resulted in a 400% increase in Kelce’s jersey sales.
Women make up 52% of Swift’s fan base in America.
In total, 53% of American adults describe themselves as Taylor Swift fans, or “Swifties,” and 16% of those call themselves “avid fans.”
But her popularity also crosses gender lines as men make up 48% of her fan base in America.
Given Swift’s popularity, her concert tickets are treated like gold by fans.
And they’re priced like gold.
According to CNBC, Swift ranked as the most sought-after performer in 2023, with an average secondary market ticket price of $1,088.56.
But one Florida man recently crafted a scheme to gain access to a Swift concert in Miami for free.
44-year-old Ivan Mariotti tried to pose as a security guard in order to gain entry to the concert in Miami.
He even put on a nice suit and created a fake security badge to wear around his neck.
It worked, but only for a brief while.
According to the police report, security officers notified Miami-Dade police of a man “dressed in a suit wearing a badge over his neck, near the floor/field area of the venue.”
Once police officers found him, Mariotti claimed “that he was hired by four women to work as a security guard and he escorted said women onto (the) property and to their respective seats.”
He claimed to work for Saint Security and provided an ID to the police.
The police talked to the four women, and one of them said that she “did not know why her driver had a badge, as her aunt confirmed that she hired a driver and not a private security guard.”
Mariotti was arrested and booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
