Taylor Swift Turned Down $9 Million for United Arab Emirates Concert—French Montana Claims

Photo Credit: Paolo V / CC by 2.0

Rapper French Montana claims he received a $1 million offer to perform in United Arab Emirates—while Taylor Swift received a $9 million offer.The rapper shared a screenshot of text messages he received from someone offering him that amount to perform. “Somebody just sent me a show offer who y’all think the 9 million is for?” he posted on Instagram, with a screenshot of the text messages he received. “9m$ [REDACTED] and 1m$ French. Any weekend in December except 6-8 December,” the text reads.

The post has since been deleted, but later the singer confirmed the redacted name was Taylor Swift. “They had a show offer for me and Taylor— her $9 million, me $1 million,” French Montana said in a new interview with VladTV. “Somewhere in Emirates.” It’s unknown why Swift turned down the offer to perform and her team has not commented on the speculation.Taylor Swift joined the Forbes billionaires list this year, thanks to her Eras Tour surpassing $1 billion in revenue. Forbes estimates the pop star is worth $1.1 billion now after her tour, the value of her music catalog, and her real estate portfolio are factored into the figure.

What’s also notable is she’s the first musician on the list to reach that status solely on the back of her catalog & touring performance. Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Kanye all had side ventures that earned their place. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will resume it’s second leg on May 9 in Paris, wrapping up in December with three shows in Vancouver.

The $9 million offer for Taylor Swift to perform in the UAE may have been a bit of a low-ball offer considering Beyoncé earned $24 million to play a private concert for an audience of around 1,000 people to celebrate the opening of a new luxury resort hotel, Atlantis The Royal. Before her Renaissance tour kicked off, this private show was the singer’s first live performance since 2018. Beyoncé’s sticker price for that concert makes it the highest-paying private concert in history, according to Forbes.