Philippines, Thailand Lawmakers Criticize Singapore for Paying Taylor Swift Millions to Not Play Other Southeast Asian Countries

Officials from The Philippines and Thailand revealed that Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour was paid by Singapore to not play any other city in Southeast Asia. Political figures have labeled this as an economic slight to the neighboring countries.

One of the world's most in-demand concert tours this year stopped in Singapore for six back-to-back concerts between March 2 and 9. Thailand's prime minister reported that the country of Singapore was able to secure a deal with Swift to prevent her from playing any other Southeast Asian city on her current international tour. With the deal alone, Swift would have made millions per concert according to the prime minister, who was previously confused as to why she didn't plan any tour dates in nearby cities.

“[AEG] didn’t tell me the exact figure, but they said the Singapore government offers subsidies of between $2 and $3 million,” Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said of the deal per The Guardian at the iBusiness Forum in Bangkok. “But the Singaporean government is clever. They told [organizers] not to hold any other shows in [south-east] Asia.”

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He later added that if she allowed shows in Thailand, that it would have been "cheaper to organize it here" and that they would have been able to "subsidize at least 500 million baht (which would equate to roughly $14 million USD)."

Meanwhile, Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda, who is a representative for Albay in Congress and acts as the chair in the House committee whose responsibility it is to oversee bills that generate government revenue, also commented on the deal. He asked the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs to officially protest against the Singapore Government's grant.

“[This] isn’t what good neighbors do,” he said in a statement. “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.”

Last month, it was announced that the Singapore Tourism Board and government worked together to establish an undisclosed grant for Swift to play in their country. Swift sold out all six shows in Singapore with each show bringing in 55,000 attendees at the National Stadium. Tickets range in prices from $200 USD to VIP tickets for over $1,200 USD.