Inside the Taylor Swift Necklace Uproar: Perez Hilton Unpacks the Viral Backlash

Well, that escalated fast: a TikTok theory turned a tiny lightning bolt charm on Taylor Swift merch into a whole internet meltdown. Perez Hilton jumped in, the original poster admitted she hoped to cash in on the outrage, and Swift quietly pulled the item from her store. Here is what actually happened, minus the noise.

The claim that lit the fuse

The piece at the center of this mess is the Opalite Lightning Bolt Necklace, part of Taylor's The Life of a Showgirl merch. It features small lightning bolt charms, clearly meant to vibe with the song Opalite from the new album.

Then a TikTok creator, @AllAboutLiz, posted that the bolts resembled SS sig runes — a symbol tied to a 20th-century European paramilitary group. That take spread fast, even though the necklace uses pointed, stylized lightning (a symbol that has existed forever), while the historical runes are squared off and typically shown as a pair. Still, the video did numbers — and then the backlash began.

Perez Hilton weighs in

Perez didn't mince words: he said the two symbols are not the same, pointed out that lightning imagery is everywhere from comics to sports logos to the lightning emoji, and called the whole uproar a manufactured reach designed to bait outrage. Not exactly subtle, but he is not wrong about the basics of iconography here.

The TikToker's follow-up made it worse

After the original video came down, @AllAboutLiz posted again — and admitted she expected to make money off the attention.

"I thought this was going to help cover my rent for a month, and I could catch up on some bills."

That confession did not land well. Swifties accused her of spreading misinformation for profit and noted the irony that, in her first clip, she wore a shirt with jagged lettering that looks a lot like the kind of bolt she was calling out. Posts on X from accounts including @sadie567345, @TeresaCrumpler, @HolyGroundGirl, and @Swiftie4ever420 on October 15, 2025, piled on — some fair criticism, some needlessly nasty.

Where the necklace went

As the argument picked up steam, the Opalite Lightning Bolt Necklace quietly vanished from Taylor's online shop. There has been no statement from Swift or her team about why it disappeared (as noted by Cleveland.com). Fans are split: some think it sold out, others think it was pulled to stop the mess from growing. Supporters also pointed out that Taylor has used lightning imagery for years. For now, silence.

What actually happened (the short version)

• Taylor released an Opalite-themed necklace with lightning bolt charms for The Life of a Showgirl merch line.
• A TikToker alleged the bolts echoed SS sig runes, and the claim went viral.
• Perez Hilton argued the symbols are not the same and called the outrage contrived.
• The TikToker later admitted she expected to monetize the controversy to help pay rent and bills, triggering a bigger backlash and lots of posts on October 15, 2025.
• As debate intensified, the necklace disappeared from Taylor's store; no official explanation, just speculation about sellout vs. removal.
• Taylor has not commented.

The bigger picture

This is a classic example of how an esoteric symbol debate can snowball into a narrative with real-world consequences, even when the evidence is flimsy. With Taylor's reach, every design choice gets scanned to death, and sometimes a lightning bolt is just... a lightning bolt.

Should she have left the necklace up and let the noise burn out, or was taking it down the smart move? Tell me where you land.

The Life of a Showgirl is out now on all major streaming platforms.