Taylor Swift has set her legal team on a Las Vegas showgirl and entertainer who has sued the Grammy winner for trademark infringement over her 2025 album The Life Of A Showgirl.
Two months earlier in March, Maren Wade – whose real name is Maren Flagg – filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming that she initially came up with the name and concept.
Flagg’s attorney Jaymie Parkkinen previously told the Daily Mail that she had ‘spent more than a decade building’ her brand Confessions of a Showgirl.
Flagg has asked to be awarded damages and restrict Swift to market her 2025 album under The Life Of A Showgirl title.
Swift’s lawyers have since filed their own opposition on Wednesday in response, labeling Wade’s claims ‘absurd’ and her lawsuit ‘meritless.’
Her legal team said, ‘This motion, just like Maren Flagg’s lawsuit, should never have been filed,’ per documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
Taylor Swift, 36, has set her legal team on a Las Vegas showgirl and entertainer who has sued the Grammy winner for trademark infringement over her 2025 album The Life Of A Showgirl; seen in March in L.A.
Swift’s lawyers have since filed their own opposition on Wednesday in response, labeling Wade’s claims ‘absurd’ and her lawsuit ‘meritless’
‘It is simply Ms. Flagg’s latest attempt to use Taylor Swift’s name and intellectual property to prop up her brand…’
Her lawyers stated that Flagg’s attempt to compare her and Swift’s services was ‘absurd.’
Swift’s legal team additionally argued that Flagg’s lawsuit wasn’t filed until eight months after the singer released The Life Of A Showgirl.
They also said in the opposition that Flagg had used Swift’s album and songs to promote her own cabaret show on social media before filing the lawsuit.
‘Since the album announcement, plaintiff has reframed her brand around the album, flooding her social media accounts with posts attempting to align herself with Ms. Swift and the album.’
Swift’s lawyers added, ‘Prior to the album announcement, plaintiff had never used “the life of a showgirl” in her social media promotion.’
But after the singer’s album announcement, the star’s legal team said Flagg ‘used the phrase or posted generally about Ms. Swift or the album over 40 times on her branded Instagram and TikTok accounts.’
They said Flagg had used The Life Of A Showgirl ‘to promote her little-known cabaret show.’
Swift’s legal team additionally argued that Flagg’s lawsuit wasn’t filed until eight months after the singer released The Life Of A Showgirl; seen in 2024 in Vancouver
They also said in the opposition that Flagg had used the Swift’s album and songs to promote her own cabaret show on social media before filing the lawsuit
Only days after Swift announced her album in August 2025, Flagg had also ‘announced a brand-new podcast mimicking Ms. Swift’s Album artwork, logo, title, and taglines.’
Flagg had used Swift’s music and other intellectual property ‘without permission’ to promote her own brand, the star’s lawyers also argued.
They added that the promotion ‘constitutes actionable infringement’ and ‘will be pursuing appropriate remedies for that intentional, commercial misuse.’
The Grammy winner’s album title is also protected by the First Amendment, her legal team said.
They also brought up other similar names since Flagg’s own trademark, such as Confessions Of A Vegas Showgirl and The Last Showgirl.
Swift’s legal team stated in the brief that ‘there is no chance’ for confusion between the singer’s 2025 album and Flagg’s cabaret show while also pointing out the star’s ‘dedicated’ fanbase.
A hearing has been set for later this month on May 27.
Daily Mail has reached out to a rep for Swift for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
They added that the promotion ‘constitutes actionable infringement’ and ‘will be pursuing appropriate remedies for that intentional, commercial misuse’; seen in March in Hollywood
Flagg’s attorney Jaymie Parkkinen responded to the opposition in a statement to Billboard on Thursday.
‘We read it. Defendants assert First Amendment protection for napkins and hairbrushes. We look forward to filing our response next week,’ Parkkinen said.
Back in March, Flagg filed legal documents in federal court accusing Swift and UMG Recordings of trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition, according to records reviewed by the Daily Mail.
‘Maren spent more than a decade building Confessions of a Showgirl,’ Flagg’s attorney Parkkinen told the Daily Mail in a statement.
‘We have great respect for Swift’s talent and success, but trademark law exists to ensure that creators at all levels can protect what they’ve built. That’s what this case is about.’
Flagg asked the California-based court to award her damages, and restrict the Grammy-winning artist from continuing to market The Life of a Showgirl with that name.
Flagg, a one-time contestant on America’s Got Talent, told the court that beginning in 2014, she penned a column in the publication Las Vegas Weekly titled Confessions of a Showgirl, in which she discussed her career as an entertainer.
Flagg’s lawyers said in the court filing that she trademarked the Confessions of a Showgirl brand in 2015, and has expanded it to include a podcast, live shows, and TV and theater projects.
Back in March, Flagg filed legal documents in federal court accusing Swift and UMG Recordings of trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition, according to records reviewed by the Daily Mail; Swift seen in 2024
The live shows, according to Flagg’s team, consisted of ‘candid and often humorous accounts of the challenges and absurdities of a career in the entertainment industry, from getting stuck inside a giant birthday cake to impersonating a Madonna impersonator.’
Swift had unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register The Life of a Showgirl name – but was turned down on account of Flagg’s product, attorneys for Flagg said.
Parkkinen told the Daily Mail that trademark officials found Swift’s name ‘confusingly similar.’
Despite that, Swift and her team marketed The Life of a Showgirl phrase on a massive scale, as if it were wholly original, Flagg told the court.
‘Within weeks, the designation was affixed to consumer goods, stamped onto labels, tags, and packaging, and deployed as a source identifier across retail channels,’ Flagg’s legal team said in its filing.
Parkkinen told the Daily Mail that trademark officials found Swift’s name ‘confusingly similar’; seen in 2024 in New Orleans
Despite that, Swift and her team marketed The Life of a Showgirl phrase on a massive scale, as if it were wholly original, Flagg told the court
Attorneys for Flagg said in the filing that Swift’s marketing was ‘all directed at the same audience Plaintiff had spent years cultivating.’
Swift marketing the phrase to millions of fans continues an ‘erosion’ of Flagg’s brand, her lawyers said.
‘Those are not artistic choices,’ Flagg’s lawyers said in the filing. ‘They are commercial decisions, and they have consequences.’
Flagg’s attorneys said the name of the product misleads consumers into thinking she had copied Swift’s product, when it was the other way around.
Swift possesses more than 170 active or pending trademark registrations, which encompasses specific names and phrases, under her brands TAS Rights Management and Bravado; seen in 2025 in L.A.
Swift possesses more than 170 active or pending trademark registrations, which encompasses specific names and phrases, under her brands TAS Rights Management and Bravado.
Flagg’s lawyers said that Swift and her team ‘are not merely familiar with trademark law – they are among its most vigorous enforcers, having filed multiple federal actions to seize goods from vendors selling trademarked merchandise near concert venues.
‘They possess direct knowledge of the harm that trademark infringement inflicts on a brand, having leveraged that very harm in federal court when it served their interests to do so.’
The Life of a Showgirl, which marked the 12th studio album release for Swift, came out last October to huge anticipation. It broke a number of streaming records via Spotify, and ended the year as its best-selling album.
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