Climate activists covered private jets in orange paint in a Taylor Swift-inspired stunt, but didn't get her plane

Taylor Swift is photographed in New York City on December 14, 2023. James Devaney/Getty Images

• Two climate activists were arrested after appearing to target Taylor Swift's jet.
• The activists broke into London's Stansted Airport and sprayed two jets with orange paint.
• Swift's jet wasn't at the airport at the time.

Two climate activists from the Just Stop Oil group were arrested after covering private jets in orange paint in a Taylor Swift-inspired stunt.

A video posted on X on Thursday showed the two activists breaking into a private airfield at London's Stansted Airport — where they claimed Swift's jet was parked — before spraying two jets with paint.

However, a representative for Stansted Airport told Business Insider that Swift's jet wasn't at the airport when the incident occurred.

It's possible that Swift's aircraft originally landed at the airport before being moved. According to flight tracking data cited by The Independent, Swift's Falcon 7x landed at Stansted at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Essex Police told BI that a 22-year-old from Brighton, England, and a 25-year-old from Dumbarton, Scotland, had been arrested "on suspicion of criminal damage and interference with the use or operation of national infrastructure."

They were detained shortly after 5:10 a.m. on Thursday morning, the statement added.

One of the protesters is pictured after painting a private jet bright orange. Just Stop Oil

"We are not anti-protest but we will always take action where criminal acts take place," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement obtained by BI.

The protesters belonged to Just Stop Oil, a climate campaign group that has defaced famous artwork and landmarks, which most recently included spraying Stonehenge with orange paint.

A representative for Just Stop Oil confirmed to BI that the planes doused in paint did not belong to Swift.

They said the protest was "generally targeted at private planes," though the two people involved likely believed Swift's aircraft was at the airport.

Just Stop Oil protesters pose for a selfie beside the plane they painted orange. Just Stop Oil

The representative said the group singled out Swift's aircraft in its social media post because it is "the most emitting" of all celebrity private jets and because they believed that Stansted is where she usually keeps her private jet while in London.

BI previously reported that the singer spent more than 166 hours traveling in private jets between March and August of 2023 for the first leg of her widely popular Eras Tour.

However, according to a study by My Climate Tracker, cited by The Tab, Travis Scott was the celebrity with the most private jet use in 2023. The rapper took 137 flights, resulting in 6,061,300 kg of CO2 emissions, according to The Tab.

Meanwhile, Swift wasn't among the top 30 celebrities with the most private jet use in 2023, the outlet said.

That's a stark contrast to 2022.

According to Yard, a UK-based sustainability marketing firm, Swift produced the most CO2 emissions of all celebrities in 2022, with 170 flights and an average flight time of 80 minutes.

A spokesperson for Swift previously told BI that her jet is "loaned out regularly to other individuals" and to attribute most of the trips to the singer alone is "blatantly incorrect."

The singer's spokesperson also previously said she had purchased carbon credits to offset her jet use.

Swift is in London for the UK leg of the Eras Tour. She is expected to perform three sold-out shows at Wembley before returning in August for additional shows.

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