A bidder bought a guitar signed by pop icon Taylor Swift at the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner in Texas for $4,000 — before breaking the instrument with a hammer.
The charity event took place Saturday in Waxahachie, with proceeds going toward the agricultural education of youth.
A TikTok video shows the unnamed buyer taking the instrument, decorated in the style of Ms. Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour, and destroying it.
“I see the guy grab a hammer off the stage,” J.D. Cobb, who shot the video, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. “When I started videoing it, I thought it was a joke.”
Other attendees also recorded it.
“A Taylor Swift guitar had sold at another event unrelated to this earlier in the year, so it wasn’t an unheard of type of item to auction. That said … when the man announced his intention to smash it, the camera phones came out,” event attendee Rob Bartley told The Independent.
SEE ALSO: From ‘Eras’ to elections: How Taylor Swift is shaping Gen Z politics and the gender divide
The impromptu act of creative destruction was intended to humorously disapprove of Ms. Swift’s recent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential run. The crowd can be heard cheering with raucous approval in Mr. Cobb’s video.
“It has been surprising to me how big of a deal people are making it out to be. It wasn’t meant to be mean or malicious. He was just making a lighthearted statement showing disapproval of people in the entertainment industry trying to influence politics,” Ellis County Wild Game spokesman Craig Meier told WFAA.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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