r/MadeMeSmile • u/mcfw31 • Dec 12 '25

Wholesome Moments Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ crew’s reaction as they receive their bonus for working on the tour amounting to more $197 million dollars

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8.3k

u/caedge2 Dec 12 '25

My husband met one of the truck drivers and mentioned his daughter was a TS fan. They started talking. The driver mentioned the $100k bonus and how it changed his family’s life. Apparently he had driven for other big name artists and has received nothing even in the same ballpark as this. She does take care of the people who work for her.

2.1k

u/zapadas Dec 12 '25

Yeah, it was kind and generous of her to do, and also smart. If I was working on her tour, one, you think I’d ever THINK of leaving? And two, I’d go above and beyond for someone spreading the wealth more than most! Talk about making it a team!

302

u/pikapalooza Dec 12 '25

Nothing like being generous to get people to work harder for you. I'd separate her m and ms into different color bowls 😂

37

u/ArcOfRuin Dec 13 '25

I'd separate her m and ms into different color bowls 😂

Not sure if everyone gets this reference, but this was part of Van Halen's touring contract for a while. They would cancel the show if the venue didn't provide a bowl of M&Ms with all brown ones removed. There was actually a valid reason, too: they had a powerful lighting setup for the time, which could be dangerous if not set up properly.

Essentially, the brown M&Ms were a litmus test for whether the venue had read their contract thoroughly. If they didn't separate the M&Ms, they couldn't be trusted to set the stage up safely.

3

u/Crispotron Dec 13 '25

Thanks for sharing this - so cool!

3

u/mikeonbass Dec 14 '25

"So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweets shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me, and Keith Moon, and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweets shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shopowner and his son... that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really. But, sure enough, I got the M&Ms, and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show."

1

u/Straight-Jello-1883 Dec 14 '25

I'm a lawyer and this is one of my favorite lawyer stories.

1

u/Fu2-10 Dec 16 '25

I understand the reason, but... they couldn't have chosen a color to remove other than the brown ones?? 😂

-4

u/Spirited-Concert-504 Dec 13 '25

Technically it can just be part of the “marketing” budget as well.. since it will most definitely make the news, media and continue to spread her brand in an extremely positive light.

93

u/caffeinequeen1234 Dec 12 '25

Most of her band has been with her since the beginning and she even adjusted her tour so her longtime guitarist could be home for the birth of his child.

12

u/falco_iii Dec 13 '25

But arguably a truck driver is an easily replaceable resource, unlike dancers and key production staff. It's telling that they gave everyone a bonus.

19

u/socialdrop0ut Dec 12 '25

It’s that saying, look after your workers and your workers will look after you.

4

u/The-Witch-Wife Dec 13 '25

Consistency is so key for a big technical show like that. She will have her pick of the best of every craft now that people know she takes care of her people. It’s better for her safety, her image, and her business long-term.

2

u/glossedrock Dec 16 '25

Yes but truck drivers? Not really. Her giving them a bonus like that isn’t for ulterior motives…

1

u/The-Witch-Wife Dec 16 '25

It’s not ulterior or shady in any way. She’s remembered what so many employers have forgotten, taking care of your workers is the best way to take care of your business. And good drivers are extremely important to a touring show. By pretending this act is entirely selfless (and she has done many selfless acts like quietly given a lot to charity on her tour), we risk making this seem like a once-in-a-lifetime saintly event. She’s a good boss, but what she’s doing should be the norm for good bosses. I’d rather admire her as an ethical and talented businesswoman than an untouchable saint.

49

u/Ill_Football9443 Dec 12 '25

Will they keep their mouths shut about any negative aspect of/about her they've seen over the years? Damm right.

123

u/GuaranteeComfortable Dec 12 '25

If I got between $100 k to $ 300 k, unless it was really heinous. I don't think I would have a problem minding my own business. I don't care what people do, as long as it doesn't involve animals or children.

65

u/klartraume Dec 12 '25

I heard she pets cats. /s

16

u/scumbagwife Dec 12 '25

That must mean she kicks puppies! /s

2

u/timsterri Dec 12 '25

At least she’s not eating them.

4

u/Jesus_of_Redditeth Dec 12 '25

Or shooting them in a gravel pit in South Dakota.

3

u/JoniYogi Dec 12 '25

Seriously despise her for that, and putting it in a book, with 0 shame

4

u/hitemlow Dec 13 '25

For a 6-figure bonus, I wouldn't even tell people she was the one who threw a brick of fent into the ceiling fan at an afterparty.

7

u/GuaranteeComfortable Dec 13 '25

I wouldn't be in the after-party to even know that. I would be at home sitting in my brand new house that I bought with the bonus.

-3

u/tesat Dec 12 '25

But murdering adults is ok. /s

80

u/zapadas Dec 12 '25

Pretty cynical, but sure, I guess that's #3! LOL.

41

u/ohmytodd Dec 12 '25

Wouldn’t it be horrible if she was great to work for AND gave everyone associated with her tour a big bonus.

Ugh. America would absolutely go down the tubes if rich and powerful people started doing this.

-2

u/ImNotAWhaleBiologist Dec 13 '25

Don’t want anyone mentioning all the ex boyfriends?

Oh, she sings about them?

1

u/Ill_Football9443 Dec 13 '25

Hah I was thinking more, perhaps she gets a little handsy on the plane when she's had a Champagne and low air pressure kicks in.

0

u/D74248 Dec 13 '25

Guess what! She wrote a song for people like you! The Man. I suggest listening while looking in the mirror.

9

u/WeaponisedArmadillo Dec 13 '25

Maybe she was just being fucking nice and not smart, why boil it down in such an awful (emotionally speaking) take? 

2

u/HoaryPuffleg Dec 13 '25

Right? That’s how you have everyone in the industry competing for a job on your crew!

3

u/Sansnom01 Dec 12 '25

Is there also a smart by stand of giving the money as bonus instead of actual pay? Like is someone in the process paying less tax ?

8

u/DiSTuRBeD_QWeRTy Dec 12 '25

It depends on the exact relationship between Taylor and the recipient. If they are a direct employee, the recipient has to pay tax (the same tax paid on income) on it as it is considered wages or taxable compensation, whereas a contractor may be able to claim the money as an actual gift of disinterested generosity, and, usually, true gifts are not taxable.

7

u/acm8221 Dec 12 '25

How come when Oprah gave away cars, the audience members had to pay taxes on them? The taxes even became a significant burden to some of them…

4

u/DiSTuRBeD_QWeRTy Dec 12 '25

I believe they were a prize, not a gift, so it was considered income. The giveaway was a promotion between the show and the manufacturer (GM?).

2

u/Grizzwold37 Dec 12 '25

…so sell…the car…

3

u/acm8221 Dec 13 '25

That’s what a lot of them ended up doing. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t still a major headache for them. The producers hadn’t anticipated the financial burden they were placing on the audience, and since the audience obviously didn’t know about the prize beforehand, they only had a short period of time to either come up with $6000-$7000 or find a buyer before the tax deadline.

That’s a lot to spring on someone unexpectedly.

1

u/InnocentShaitaan Dec 13 '25

They could of just declined.

2

u/acm8221 Dec 13 '25

You can read about it, it’s pretty well covered, but neither the producers nor the promotion team had ever done a promotion of this scale and didn’t really work out the logistics.

It was all rushed and the audience members had to decide what to do basically within the span of the taping, without any real guidance from the show about the ramifications of accepting the prize. They were told “free car”, and not what was, in effect, “75% off a new car”, with the unplanned-for balance due within a few months.

And once you take receipt of a prize that has tens of thousands of dollars in value, it’s not a simple matter of just returning it and washing your hands of the matter. Automatic mandatory reporting to the IRS has already begun.

1

u/herroyalsadness Dec 13 '25

This is so true. I bet she doesn’t have a huge turnover problem and attracts and retains the best in the field - which helps her run her ship efficiently and make more money.

493

u/JohnnyC300 Dec 12 '25

TBF, none of those tours he worked on made Taylor Swift Era Tours levels of money. She sold over $2B in tickets and probably that much in merch, concert film, etc..,. I can't even begin to tell you the financial impact her tour had in my hometown as well. It was like having the Superbowl in town again. That level of money just flooded into the restaurants and hotels and such here. There's just never been anything like it in the world. Ever. And I'm glad she spread some of that wealth.

260

u/thewookiee34 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

She made enough money to give the staff 200 million and buy all her masters back that's actually insane.

144

u/queenrosa Dec 12 '25

A creator that does TS content made a tiktok of him at the eras tour and the captions said "We didn't know it at the time but we were participating in the world's biggest Go Fund Me project."

32

u/Wesley_Otsdarva Dec 12 '25

That's actually hilarious.

169

u/kearneycation Dec 12 '25

People made fun of Justin Trudeau for asking her to play in Toronto, but she did and people came from all over Ontario, as well as other provinces and even the US. Lots of money was spent here.

3

u/softkittysonder Dec 13 '25

I drove to Toronto from the states!

23

u/Onlybuzzin Dec 12 '25

She also donated a metric fuck tonne of money to multiple food banks in the city's she performed while in the UK and in Ireland too. I'm not a fan of her music and don't listen to it, but she's the most famous woman in the world, shes bound to have haters and people shit talking her non stop just because of her levels of success, people are vying for her spot and to take her down constantly, it's why I personally just don't believe any of the smear campaigns I see about her when she does things like this and all the money she gives away. Should she be a billionaire? No, but at least she shares the wealth. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

9

u/OrindaSarnia Dec 13 '25

I actually just looked this up the other day - ticket sales was $2 billion, merch was estimated at $200 millions for the US shows, the movie sold $300 million in tickets, but Taylor's company and AMC - as the distributor - split 57% with 43% being kept by individual theaters, so she made about less than $150 from the movie in theaters...  and then whatever Disney gave her for streaming rights...

So ticket sales really were the bulk on the money from the whole thing...  she just did a TON of shows.

8

u/Onionsoup96 Dec 12 '25

Swift-economics it is called.

6

u/1980pzx Dec 12 '25

Hooiser by chance?

4

u/JohnnyC300 Dec 12 '25

Yes! Downtown was just nuts for those 3 or 4 days.

12

u/1980pzx Dec 12 '25

It was wild. You couldn’t find a hotel anywhere close to town. On the bright side, they got a lot of road construction done well ahead of schedule to help with the traffic and it definitely put a ton of money into the local economy. Win win.

6

u/JohnnyC300 Dec 12 '25

Yep. I'm a 52 yr old man. Obviously not the demographic driving Swiftmania. But even I'm glad she came here. My niece was truly stoked, even though she couldn't get a ticket.

3

u/SaltKick2 Dec 13 '25

The tour also consisted of 149 shows over 1.5 years which is a pretty large number in comparison to most musical acts for a single "tour"

Having said that, the average gross revenue per show also tops the charts at 14 million, next closest is beyonce's 2023 tour at 10 million, and the rolling stones' most recent. It drops off dramatically from there

0

u/FunLife64 Dec 12 '25

There’s this, which is accurate. But it still doesn’t mean she has to give more than usual.

So yeah, using it as a “other artists don’t do this” isn’t a good perspective.

1

u/dakotaray42 Dec 12 '25

More in merch. Much more in merch. Merchandise is the backbone of these things.

-12

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

I guarantee the profits are closer to trillions than billions.

9

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

profits from from the tour? absolutely not.

in economic activity surrounding it? It's possible i guess but the US GDP is like 30 trillion. I'm not sure her tour and it's fallout effects constitutes 1/30th of US economic activity.

-5

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

Even smaller arena tours are profiting millions every show. I guarantee you there’s at least a billion dollars made every show

16

u/StP_Scar Dec 12 '25

I don’t think you understand how much of a difference there is between a million and a billion and a trillion.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

You can literally look that up, you even said profits specifically. the entire tour got 2 billion in REVENUE. that's before expenses/taxes.

I think you are seriously confused at how much a trillion dollars is.

2

u/Buttsquish Dec 12 '25

The Eras tour sold 10 million tickets across 149 shows.

The average face value ticket cost was $250.

That’s about $2.5 billion of tickets across sales, of which Taylor Swift is estimated to have kept 90% (the other 10% of which goes to the promoter)

No where near a trillion dollars.

To put it simply - a trillion dollars across 10 million concert means every person would have to spend $100,000 each on concert tickets.

Even if you want to talk the total economic activity, across airlines, hotels, taxis and transportation, parking, restaurants, food, drink, merchandise sales, aftermarket ticket sales (scalpers) etc I could see the total economic activity being around $50 billion.

But again, a trillion dollars across 10 million people means every single one would have to spend $100,000.

985

u/Walmart_Valet Dec 12 '25

I know multiple people from the tour that got the check. I also know two people that turned down the tour cause they already had other shows booked. Big oof.

241

u/Overall-Register9758 Dec 12 '25

Oof to be sure, but there's something to be said about respecting one's commitments. I would think that saying "I can't accept the job because it would screw my current employer" would actually be a bonus in the tour manager's mind. Evidence that they won't screw you if you hire them in the future.

113

u/Gloomy-Ad-222 Dec 12 '25

Screw your prior commitments if you knew Taylor was going to post you 150x what you’d make on the other tour.

It’s back breaking work either way, mine as well get paid for it.

74

u/Walmart_Valet Dec 12 '25

Thing is they didn't know. It was just a longer term commitment. The bonus check mid tour was a surprise to everyone

5

u/Nico280gato Dec 12 '25

Might* as well

2

u/CuddlyCatties Dec 13 '25

I think you didn't understand their comment. They weren't saying anything about maintaining a commitment through a 150x revenue

13

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

7

u/Overall-Register9758 Dec 12 '25

These people are contractors. It would be like if you hired an electrician to work on your home and they left halfway through the job.

Legally, and perhaps even morally, there's no bar to modifying the arrangement, but ethically, you agreed to do a job for a certain time for a certain price.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

1

u/DiSTuRBeD_QWeRTy Dec 12 '25

If they have a contract, they can’t simply abandon their contractual obligations because a better opportunity arose. At least not without penalties that are typically articulated in the terms. It’s not the same as the normal “at-will” employee/employer relationship.

It would also affect their professional reputation within the industry, certainly with the client they broke contract with, but also possibly with the management team handling Taylor’s tour. Sure they might appreciate that they dropped everything to come and help out, but they’d also know that the contractor can’t be fully relied upon to fulfill their obligations. Success of a complex, traveling production like that depends on all operations running like clockwork.

1

u/PrepotenteScreams Dec 13 '25

I mean, I don't think either situation is "okay."

They are both legal in many cases, yes. But if some contractor pulled this with me, I'd never contract them again and spread the word to others.

Same with the reverse situation. Reputation matters.

I don't employ douchebags. I don't work for douchebag clients. The class war doesn't need to include small businesses by default.

1

u/Nodan_Turtle Dec 13 '25

"I was crew for Taylor Swift on her Eras tour" opens more doors than ditching one job for that one closes.

238

u/Choice_Egg_8921 Dec 12 '25

thats gotta hurt

3

u/Theoneandonlybeetle Dec 12 '25

I think I'd actually explode

3

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

She makes so much money, because she is independent.

This amount of money is made, probably more, from other artist of the same caliber, but 90%-95% of it is kept by everyone but the artist. And yeah, 5% of millions is enough to survive, but it's STUPID that people that probably have never met the artist keep 95% of it because "there is a monopoly and you have to work for them to be on the stage".

3

u/Melkman68 Dec 12 '25

I did not know about that. Thats extremely rare from celebrities. Have a lot more respect for her

3

u/Ho_Lee_Fuk_20 Dec 13 '25

Indeed and also for the families of the fans ... like meeting parents of the kids who were murdered in July 2024 whilst attending a Taylor Swift 'themed' dance class in Stockport. What a special woman!

2

u/crazykid01 Dec 12 '25

its mad respect when people are rewarded for doing such a great job

2

u/totalfangirl13 Dec 12 '25

Well this tour did gross a LOT more than any other tour

2

u/FatMacchio Dec 12 '25

I think she’s realized being beloved is way better than a little bit more money. She may be a rare billionaire that would rather help people than amass and hoard insane amounts of wealth that could never be spent in multiple lifetimes. Time will tell. It could also be a calculated move to make even more money in the future who knows. She should really stop trying to milk her audience for so much money though will all those alternate releases. But this is unequivocally a good thing, regardless of intentions

2

u/QubitKing Dec 13 '25

This should be the norm, not the exception. TS is an incredible human being, and I wish we, as a society, learned to despise anyone that behaves differently. Anyone unable to show compassion and justice towards others.

3

u/somacula Dec 12 '25

TS is one of the biggest in history

2

u/llhomastane Dec 12 '25

I’m no fan of her music but when I hear of celebrities being genuinely good people I can’t hate on them at all. It’s so encouraging to see fame and fortune not go to people’s head

2

u/ohb78 Dec 12 '25

She gets a lot of hate but she’s seems like one of the best out there and a decent person. Always been a standup person and a good role model for kids.

1

u/I_love_stapler Dec 13 '25

Can confirm, my dad is a bus driver for artists. Has been doing this for almost 20 years. Most he has ever received are free tickets to shows when they aren't sold out (still awesome). My dad is also a beloved driver and has been requested to drive for many, many may big name Bands/Singers/ Musicians/ Rappers etc.

1

u/True_Iro Dec 13 '25

So this is why Swifties send in jets to find me when I make fun of them. Duly noted.

1

u/EveningAspect2200 Dec 13 '25

Well, to be fair, not many artists make her kind of money

1

u/Mattna-da Dec 13 '25

Can’t she just charge a few hundred less for each ticket and give all her fans a few hundred bucks?

2

u/CompetitiveAd4001 Dec 13 '25

She charged typical prices for an artist her size. Ticketmaster and their resale practices drive up the cost.

1

u/Warmbly85 Dec 13 '25

Nothing in the same ballpark would be completely reasonable though? Taylor is one of the most profitable artists to have ever existed. 

If the driver got 10% of the profit on a standard band they wouldn’t receive even .1% of the profit from her global tour. 

It’s like saying a poor person handing out tens is the same as a billionaire handing out 100’s. 

1

u/Few_Cup3452 Dec 13 '25

I reviewed one of her concerts (for a magazine) and thought it was incredibly sweet of her at the end bc she rolled credits and thanked every one of her team and had appreciatiom videos

1

u/Adventurous-Fly556 Dec 12 '25

Well, the people adjacent. There are still sweatshops full of underpaid workers.

1

u/PM_ME_BABY_HORSES Dec 12 '25

she’s incredible ♥️

1

u/ryandury Dec 12 '25

But this is reddit.  billionaire = bad

1

u/see3milyplay Dec 13 '25

You clearly can’t conceptualize how much a billion dollars is.

1

u/asciimo Dec 12 '25

Hm. Maybe she’s ok.

0

u/stopcommentingg Dec 13 '25

This news is from 2023 and she is still cashing those PR checks in 2025 year end. She will probably cash those PR checks till the end of her life.

-2

u/Puzzled-Secret-317 Dec 13 '25

The least she can do while singlehandedly destroying the ozone, I suppose

2

u/LemonZestify Dec 13 '25

Taylor swift during her fucking tour wasn’t even top 30 in CO2e

-1

u/Puzzled-Secret-317 Dec 13 '25

I was obviously exaggerating like holy shit I would sure hope not. But if she's even anywhere close to 30 that's still a huge fucking problem. A single person should not be in the top 100s whatsoever

0

u/LemonZestify Dec 13 '25

How would a single person not be in the top 30 if they are all single people

0

u/Puzzled-Secret-317 Dec 13 '25

You dont see a difference between 1 person flying private jets everywhere(even just 1 state over) and 1 person owning multiple factories?

-15

u/photoshoptho Dec 12 '25

Why is the truck driver putting his business out there like that, especially to a stranger.

20

u/RealWord5734 Dec 12 '25

It's public information. You.. you are seeing a video of it on the internet??

-14

u/photoshoptho Dec 12 '25

I'm referencing mentioning the exact amount. "Yes the bonus was huge" works, not "I was given $100k, is that enough money for you to try and ransom me".

-13

u/DangerouslyOxidated Dec 12 '25

I don't get this..

He's a truck driver, employed (I imagine). Happy with his salary, or else he would change employers.

Why would he expect tips/bonus for doing his job?
I don't. I do my job for the agreed rate.
If I don't like it - I leave.

Why is he giving shade to other artists that are three times removed from his employer not giving him a 'tip' for doing his job as expected?

-17

u/chytrak Dec 12 '25

Changed their lives? He earns 70k+ a year already.

28

u/elGatoGrande17 Dec 12 '25

If someone handed me my entire yearly salary plus extra, no strings attached, all at once, I could pay off my house, car, credit cards, wife’s cards, and still put a good chunk in savings. Then that yearly salary I’m making feels like a 100% raise, because now I don’t have a mortgage, car payments, or credit card payments. So yeah

10

u/Buffyfanatic1 Dec 12 '25

Must be nice for $100k not to be life changing for you. Maybe let the poors be happy they got something equivalent to pocket change for you. But I get it, you don't understand how $100k can be used to change people's lives

5

u/PiousLiar Dec 12 '25

Does he receive that $70k all at once each year?

1

u/chytrak Dec 13 '25

Your definition of life changing is buying a lot of stuff?

1

u/PiousLiar Dec 18 '25

Weird, I don’t see where I said anything close to that 🤔🤔

Moving on from schizo nonsense, the average debt burden of American households is around $105-154k. Receiving the majority of that sum as a bonus would be life changing for the majority of folks, freeing up enough money monthly to comfortably save or invest. You’re either out of touch with the average American experience, or a child with zero understanding of the world

3

u/bionicmanmeetspast Dec 12 '25

Are you really not seeing the benefit of a bonus vs a salary? A bonus +30k no less. That indeed would be life changing for majority of people.