Man who smashed up ‘signed’ Taylor Swift guitar with hammer speaks out

Doubts have been raised about the authenticity of the guitar as well

A video went viral this week which showed Gary Estes collecting the guitar after he'd just spent $3,200 (£2,390) on the instrument at a charity auction in Texas.

The guitar was covered in images of Swift from her Eras Tour, but when the man got his hands on the guitar, he proceeded to take a hammer to it, with the audience cheering as he smashed it up.

The video was shared on TikTok, and unsurprisingly sparked anger amongst Swifties.

Now, Estes has spoken out the incident, saying there was "nothing malicious" about the stunt and that it was intended as a "joke."

He told NBC News: “It was just a joke at an auction that we had to raise money for kids, right?

“And that’s all it was. There was nothing mean about it, nothing bad about it. It was just a joke that they were making up on the stage, and we just followed through with a joke.”

Auctioneer and spokesperson for the event, Craig Meier, initially supported Estes's words, agreeing that it was simply a "funny, light-hearted thing."

However, he later said that, after speaking with the 67-year-old, it was clearly intended as a political statement.

“Taylor Swift, it became a political thing, and that was kind of the gist of it, just a light-hearted bit of a dig at Taylor for coming out politically and entertainers using their influence to influence politics,” he said.

It had been suggested at the time that the destruction of the guitar might be a protest against Swift’s recent endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Estes confirmed to NBC that he is a Trump supporter and was no fan of Swift following her endorsement of Harris.

He told the news channel: "Yes, you can connect the dots there."

Since the video went viral, some questions have been raised about the authenticity of the supposedly-autographed guitar.

Although the instrument came with an apparent certificate of authenticity, sources close to Swift's merch company told Variety the guitar was not signed by her.

According to TMZ, the guitar has now been listed on eBay for a starting bid of $100 (£75), with sale proceeds going towards the same charity the initial auction dinner was for.