Nashville cafe addresses claim Olivia Rodrigo got Taylor Swift’s photos removed before 2023 performance

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: The manager of a Nashville cafe has addressed claims that Olivia Rodrigo's team apparently asked the establishment to remove photos of Taylor Swift before her performance at the restaurant two years ago.

The general manager and COO of Bluebird Cafe, Erica Nichols, has dismissed the claims, saying that the image was removed because of a different reason, reported PEOPLE.

The clarification from Nichols came after a video went viral on X, and which had a cafe staff member claiming the place took down “any visible sign of Taylor Swift before [Rodrigo] performed there in 2023” before her ‘Guts’ album was released.

Taking to X, on Wednesday, June 18, the manager said, “We did have a filming with Olivia Rodrigo here. Olivia's people did not ask us to remove an image of Taylor Swift. Nobody did.”

Cafe manager says Taylor Swift’s image was removed due to legal reasons

“We removed an image of Taylor Swift that was in a position where the filming was taking place,” she noted, before explaining, “When we have filmings, we are required legally to remove images that are under copyright. We don't own those images, so we cannot give permission for those images to be used in any kind of broadcast.”

“That's the sole reason that the photograph was removed from the place it stood,” Nichols added.

The manager also spoke about the employee who “spoke out of turn”, claiming he might not have understood the reason behind the photo’s removal.

Cafe manager claims to respect both Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo

She stated, “He spoke carelessly and haphazardly about it, maybe trying to be funny, I don't know. But irregardless, that image was removed for legal reasons.”

Nichols even went on to clarify that they are equal fans of both Rodrigo and Swift.

“Please understand this was not anything in between the two artists. We support all songwriters, all artists and give them equal share. Taylor is a super friend of the Bluebird, and we hold her in the highest esteem,” she claimed.

She also said that they were "honored" to have the 22-year-old singer at Bluebird.

“Please know they both live extremely high in our regard. It was a mistake on the part of the employee, and I'm here to clear that up so you know that this was something that we were just required to do for legal reasons,” she asserted.

Concluding her statement, Nichols noted, “Thank you so much for listening. Please know that we at the Bluebird Café support Taylor. We support Olivia and we're grateful for your support.”

Olivia Rodrigo has denied any feud with Taylor Swift

Earlier, a cafe staff member had claimed the place took down “any visible sign of Taylor Swift before [Rodrigo] performed there in 2023”.

The employees’ words led to speculation of bad blood between the two artists, which was followed by a previous speculation that Rodrigo wrote "Vampire" about the Grammy winner.

But the ‘Deja Vu’ hitmaker told The Guardian in 2023, “I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”

“I was very surprised when people thought that,” Rodrigo added.