Pop megastar Taylor Swift was sued by a Las Vegas performer on Monday who said Swift’s latest hit album The Life of a Showgirl violates her trademark rights.
Maren Wade said in the complaint that marketing for Swift’s album threatened to “drown out” her long-running “Confessions of a Showgirl” stage show and asked the court to block Swift from creating confusion with her album title.
Spokespeople for Swift and her label Universal Music Group UMG.AS, also a defendant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wade’s lawyer Jaymie Parkkinen said they “have great respect for Swift’s talent and success, but trademark law exists to ensure that creators at all levels can protect what they’ve built.”
The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s 12th album, was released in October and shattered Spotify streaming records on its way to becoming the biggest-selling album of 2025.
Wade said in the complaint that she began writing her “Confessions of a Showgirl” column for Las Vegas Weekly in 2014.
She said she has since toured a stage show with the same name featuring “candid and often humorous accounts of the challenges and absurdities of a career in the entertainment industry, from getting stuck inside a giant birthday cake to impersonating a Madonna impersonator.”
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Swift’s application last year for a federal Life of a Showgirl trademark covering “musical performances and live entertainment services,” citing potential confusion with Wade’s pre-existing “Confessions of a Showgirl” trademark.
Wade said in the complaint that Swift’s continued use of the “Life of a Showgirl” name “drowns out” her trademark “until consumers begin to assume that the original is the imitation.”
“What Plaintiff had built over twelve years, Defendants threatened to swallow in weeks,” Wade said.
Wade requested a court order blocking Swift’s use of her “Showgirl” brand and unspecified monetary damages.
