A man has spent USD $4000 at an auction to buy a guitar signed by Taylor Swift, only to destroy it with a hammer seconds later.

The auction took place at an event called the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner held outside Dallas, Texas on Sunday night. During the event, an Eras Tour-themed guitar that was signed by Taylor Swift was put up for auction.

An unidentified elderly man purchased the guitar for $4000 before taking a hammer to it almost immediately, hitting it several times before seemingly turning to smash the instrument on the ground before being stopped by the auction’s host. Throughout the smashing, the man laughed as he was cheered on by an audience.

Watch the clip below.

The clip began going viral on social media last night (September 30), with people speculating that it was a move driven by Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.

TMZ has since seemingly confirmed with the event that the Swift-signed guitar had been donated to the auction before Swift’s endorsement of Harris, and that the guitar was not intended to be destroyed.

The singer last month announced her endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy, championing her as “a steady-handed, gifted leader”. Swift added: “She fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them… I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

Taylor Swift at the 2024 MTV VMAs.
Taylor Swift. Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Swift wrapped up the UK and European leg of her Eras Tour in August with five final dates at Wembley Stadium. To commemorate, the stadium gifted her with her own personalised Wembley guitar. It has also been suggested that Swift should be awarded the London Freedom of the City for her record-breaking residency.

She is next due to re-commence the final stretch of her ongoing tour in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on October 18, before ending the mammoth ‘Eras Tour’ run in Vancouver, Canada in early December.

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