He also says he’s been getting death threats from Swifties since tracking the star’s private jet use

TAYLOR Swift’s controversial private jet tracker Jack Sweeney says that Jeff Bezos has now taken aim at him after setting up an Instagram account dedicated to the billionaire’s luxury plane.

In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Sweeney also reveals that he’s received death threats from Swifties but remains unperturbed – and he plans to expand his online tracking system, which will have even more celebs running to their lawyers.

College student Jack Sweeney tracks the private jet use of celebrities such as Taylor Swift. Credit: Jack Sweeney

The star’s lawyers have sent Sweeney a cease and desist letter. Credit: Getty

Now Sweeney says Jeff Bezos is the latest celebrity to object to his jet tracking. Credit: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
The 22-year-old college student’s defense is that he’s just a “computer geek” with a “normal aviation hobby” and all the media attention is “getting old.”

Sweeney runs several dedicated Instagram and X accounts to track the private jet use of the rich and famous such as Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Amazon founder Bezos, who is the most recent to have a run-in with Sweeney.

“There’s Jeff Bezos that’s now blocked me on Instagram. I don’t know if it’s like an automated system because of their name being used,” Sweeney said.

“They haven’t contacted me, but I noticed that I’m blocked. Like I saw it, it was kind of unbelievable. I don’t know when it happened.”

Sweeney also called out Elon Musk and Taylor Swift for “bullying” tactics.

In November 2021, the Tesla billionaire had publicly slammed Sweeney on X, then Twitter, for tracking his jet, offering $5,000 for him to stop, but Sweeney refused.

And in the past two months, Sweeney – a junior at the University of Central Florida – has faced unprecedented scrutiny after Swift’s lawyers sent a “cease and desist letter.”

Her lawyers put pressure on him to stop, claiming in a legal letter dated December 22 that he was assisting stalkers.

“While this may be a game to you, or an avenue that you hope will earn you wealth or fame, it is a life-or-death matter for our Client,” the lawyers wrote.

“Ms. Swift has dealt with stalkers and other individuals who wish her harm since she was a teenager. […] This reality has forced our Client to live her life in a constant state of fear for her personal safety.”

Her spokesman went one step further and said Sweeney’s dedicated Instagram account to Swift’s jet had a “connection” to a man’s arrest last month outside her townhouse in Manhattan.

There’s an ongoing police investigation, but Sweeney hasn’t heard a peep from law enforcement now or ever before.

‘OVER THE TOP’

And he remains unrepentant, dismissing the notion that his site is an online stalker aid.

“[Swift and Musk] both have different kind of powers. But if I’m not going to back down from someone that I was kind of a fan of like Elon, so why would I back down for Swift?” Sweeney said.

“They thought that just because of the letter, they’d try and intimidate me.

“They don’t want you there, they’re the bigger person, have bigger power, and they think they can do stuff like that.

“[Stalking] is not my intended use for it. That’s not what I want people to do. Anybody could go to a hammer store, buy a hammer, and go kill someone. But is that what a hammer is for?

“If I’m not gonna back down from someone that I was kind of a fan of like Elon, so why would I back down for Swift?”

Jack Sweeney
“Of course, I don’t want her hurt. But there’s no reasonable evidence that proves it. I haven’t become aware of it if there is.

“But if they wanted to convince me to stop, then they should share whatever evidence they have – if there is something.

“If someone followed her, then they’re going to follow her anyway. But that doesn’t mean they use my source either.

“It’s crazy to think I’ll be questioned by police, because I’m not an accessory to something that happened.”

He made the same point about an incident that happened in December 2022 when Elon Musk tweeted that an unknown person followed and eventually blocked a car carrying his 2-year-old son.

“A similar thing happened with Elon when he shut down my accounts on Twitter. He said there was this event where his car with his kid in was attacked or something.

“It was more than 24 hours after any of my posts – and his team never filed the police report. He tried to blame it on my account, but they’re not even related,” he said.

When asked if this was bullying, Sweeney responded, “Yeah for sure, it’s just like the Swift team. I don’t think [the police] will [contact me], there’s nothing to it. Some of it is, like, really over the top.”

DEATH THREATS

While some would say Sweeney deserves the criticism, he’s also received death threats himself.

“There’s some Swift fans that have come after me, but some that support me. So it’s like, whatever,” he said.

“They’re keyboard warriors, but that’s pretty much it. There’s someone that said, ‘I hope you get brutally murdered yourself,’ and they messaged me that, and it’s like these people, you can’t really respect their opinion because they don’t know how technology works.

There’s someone that said, ‘I hope you get brutally murdered yourself'”

Jack Sweeney
“They’re trying to just emotionally mess with me, or anger me, but they’re just keyboard warriors.

“Sometimes I’m thinking really logically about it, and then other times, I get more angry. But I try to keep it all on a level.”

Despite all the controversy, Sweeney’s “hobby” has even landed him a summer internship with the Japanese airline ANA.

He said now he would like to do nothing more than get on with his jet-spotting without being in the limelight.

FAMILY WORRIES

This would also have the blessing of his family, as some have told him to take a step out of the current media pressure cooker, as they’re concerned about his welfare.

But, ironically, as much as his newfound fame wears him out sometimes, it’ll get a whole lot worse if his grand plans for the future turn into reality after he graduates in spring 2025.

“Sometimes even I wonder how I deal with it. I just started out as an aviation person and I know how the systems work,” he said.

“To me, it seems like a normal thing to be doing, tracking these planes like other aviation hobbyists do. It’s not illegal and these people are really just trying to scare me into something that I don’t have to stop doing.

“There’s definitely some of my family and friends, who are concerned sometimes, for sure.

It’s not illegal and these people are really just trying to scare me into something that I don’t have to stop doing.”

Jack Sweeney
“It’s just like the same standard – just because they’re closer to me, it doesn’t mean they understand how the technology works.

“I’m definitely a sort of computer geek. I like the technology side, but getting in the news and stuff, it’s cool for a while, but it gets old, people just don’t understand it.

“I’m the person that’s right here, I have a much different perspective and I don’t really want to be told what to do.”

Speaking about his vision for the future of celeb jet-tracking sites, he added, “I’d almost like an application, but it’s a website, it would have the logos, people’s faces, and all the names of everybody.

“Then when you click on it, it’ll show the associated aircraft, tracking history, and data over time.

“If I could get it there to a full-time job, that would be cool.”

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Jeff Bezos for comment.