Tendler seemed to say that Swift’s tour set copied one of her 2021 photos in a TikTok, but now Anna Marie Tendler says she was joking when she accused Taylor Swift of stealing her art. Read More…
Anna Marie Tendler Says She Was Joking When She Accused Taylor Swift Of Stealing Her Art
Taylor Swift’s three-hour, 44-song Eras tour opener on Friday didn’t seem to thrill at least one person: Anna Marie Tendler, a multimedia artist who used to be married to comedian John Mulaney. Tendler accused Swift of copying one of her self-portraits at a dining table in a TikTok video that was posted over the weekend but has since been taken down. The video showed Swift setting up a dining table on stage right before she sang “Tolerate It.”
Tendler is a photographer and multimedia artist. Last week, she posted a TikTok in which she said that a set design in Taylor Swift’s new Eras tour looked a lot like her own work. Swift fans are upset about this. Later, Anna Marie Tendler Says She Was Joking When She Accused Taylor Swift Of Stealing Her Art.
Tendler appeared confident in her TikTok that the dining table idea employed at Swift’s performance could not have existed without the impact of her work. “What the fu**?” she captioned the TikTok. “Uh, Taylor, my girl, people who designed Taylor’s tour—this ‘Tolerate It’ setup looks strikingly like one of my photographs in tone and in aesthetics,” Tendler said in the video. She continued, “It doesn’t totally feel like parallel thinking to me. I’m a small artist, [an] independent artist who is trying to make money and live off of my artwork. I don’t know what to do about this. Maybe somebody can help me?”
Despite the obvious insanity of the clip, there was no indication of humor, irony, or satire in the tone. The video seemed terribly serious, especially in light of her plea for aid and her portrayal of herself as a “small” and “independent” artist up against a cultural powerhouse like Swift. The general public’s reaction on social media suggests that’s what happened.
Here are a few social responses to her video:
like this has to be satire right? she can’t seriously be accusing taylor swift of stealing her idea of setting a table pic.twitter.com/S8b6hik9ZO
— nic (@bitchesnmodels) March 18, 2023
On Sunday evening, Tendler addressed the matter by commenting on a TikTok that had patched hers: “Hi! This was meant to be a joke,” she wrote. “Most of my videos are jokes or satire! When I realized it wasn’t landing as a joke I deleted it. Didn’t mean offense.” Of course, Tendler’s retraction just served to further inflame the debate.
Tendler is the ex-wife of famous comedian John Mulaney. She gained fame as a makeup artist and go-to millennial beauty expert prior to their 2019 divorce. While at Parson’s, Tendler dabbled in photography before abandoning that pursuit in favor of the fashion industry.
Tendler first showed her dark and spooky “Rooms in the First House” series of photographs at the 2021 edition of The Other Art Fair in Santa Monica, California, and has subsequently sold portrait sittings in the same vein at subsequent shows.
Several others thought the video was created as a prank or to stir up controversy because of the tearful message and the few parallels between the concert set and Tendler’s photos. As of right now, the video is gone from Tendler’s channel.
