Earlier this month, an Indiana man was arrested for stalking and harassing Taylor Swift during a series of incidents that occurred between March and May 2023.
Laporte Superior Court records confirm that 36 year old Michelle Taybal was indicted on June 2 on charges of Stalking, Breach of Secrecy, Threats & Harassment after making multiple attempts to contact Swift at home and via social media was arrested
According to an affidavit obtained from Sunn, Table first sent an audio message to Swift via Instagram on March 29, in which he said he “would gladly wear a bomb if he couldn’t be with his life partner”. Messages were also sent to Swift’s father, where Table claimed that he was Swift’s abuser and was a dancer with her on the Eras Tour.
On May 5, prior to Swift’s The Eras Tour weekend show in Nashville, Taebel traveled from Long Beach, Indiana to Swift’s Nashville penthouse and entered the apartment building through an unsecured door
When Swift’s security team stopped him, Taebel told them that he was a “great looking, well dressed, popular TV host”.
Swift’s security called the Nashville police, but Taebel left before officers arrived.
Taebel’s antics led to him being placed on a “security threat” list preventing him from purchasing tickets to her Nashville concerts, although he managed to overcome this by purchasing tickets through a third-party platform. Security personnel inside Nissan Stadium recognized them and removed them from the venue.
Upon his return to Indiana, The Hill reports, Taebel took to social media and uploaded a racist and hate-filled video message where he said, “I went to visit [Swift’s] apartment complex and my opinion Anyone who thinks it’s illegal to go to someone’s apartment just to see if they want to meet should be killed. They should die on the spot of a heart attack. .
A temporary restraining order was requested by Swift’s management and issued on May 13; However, Taebel soon violated the order by continuing to send messages and post videos to Swift via social media, in which she stated that her “last wish is that whoever has anything to do with her, He should be killed.”
The state of Indiana opened its case against Taebel in late May, which led to his arrest on June 2 by the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office. He was booked on $15,000 bond; Jail records show that he is behind bars. After pleading not guilty and being found competent to stand trial, Taebel’s next court hearing has been set for July 27.
Swift has long been plagued by stalkers, most recently in July 2022 when a Brooklyn man was arrested for illegally harassing the singer. Another man broke into Swift’s Tribeca apartment twice in 2019, while another was caught near her Rhode Island mansion in the same year. In 2021, another man was arrested for attempting to break into Swift’s apartment.
Swift wrote in Elle in 2019, “You get enough stalkers trying to break into your home and you start to prepare for bad things.” , and I believe in humanity. We have to live bravely to feel truly alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.