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Taylor Swift recalls Brad Paisley’s ‘tour prank’ that left her unable to sleep ‘for months’

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Cite

Blackwelder, C. (2026, October 27). Taylor Swift recalls Brad Paisley’s ‘tour prank’ that left her unable to sleep ‘for months’. New York Post. https://pagesix.com/2026/10/26/entertainment/taylor-swift-recalls-brad-paisleys-tour-prank-gone-too-far/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-27 · by Carson Blackwelder

Quick Summary

Taylor Swift humorously recounted a prank by Brad Paisley during her 2007 tour where he filled her bus with thousands of live crickets, joking that it left her unable to sleep for months. This anecdote was shared during her acceptance speech at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Nashville on Monday night, where she became the youngest artist ever inducted at age 36. Swift also celebrated her career beginnings and the impact Nashville had on shaping her music, expressing gratitude toward her family who supported her move to the city from Pennsylvania when she was a young songwriter.
Written by AI on 2026-10-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Taylor Swift, during her induction speech into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on October 27, 2026, humorously recalled being "estranged" from country music star Brad Paisley since their tour in 2007 due to a prank gone awry. She recounted how Paisley filled her entire tour bus with thousands of live crickets, an act that left her unable to sleep for months and considered purchasing a pet lizard to deal with the insects. Swift is now the youngest artist ever inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame at age 36. The event also honored other notable figures such as Shawn Camp, Bruce Channel, Lyle Lovett, Lee Thomas Miller, and George Strait, who received the Career Maker Award.

Written for “Taylor Swift Prank Story” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Taylor Swift Prank Story
Entertainment · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 48 claims Outlet record 64/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16741 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Carson Blackwelder
37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 “I started writing songs when I was a little kid and I knew from the time I wrote my first song that even if it couldn’t be my career, it would be my passion,” she said onstage.
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🔮 So I just kind of assessed what I could see.”
🔮 “But what I’m meant to do will come and find me,” she continued.
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🔮 Chalamet hinted at what might come next for him and Jenner in a Vogue cover story in November 2025, noting that children “could be on the radar.”
🔮 “It is total rubbish,” royal journalist Tom Sykes told Page Six of the rumors earlier this week, with the author of “The Dukes” adding, “Harry has always said he will never apologize for anything.” Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield also stated that there’s no credibility to the fodder, saying, “Prince Harry and Meghan remain defiant.”
🔮 “I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” Lorre, 73, writes in his book.
Also by Carson Blackwelder
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 37 articles by Carson Blackwelder →

Topics

Nashville Pennsylvania Rolling Stone Tennessee the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Subjects

Nashville GPE · 5× Swift PERSON · 4× Taylor Swift PERSON · 3× Paisley PERSON · 2× the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame ORG · 2× Brad Paisley PERSON · 1× Bruce Channel PERSON · 1× Rolling Stone ORG · 1× Shawn Camp PERSON · 1× Tennessee GPE · 1×

Narrative

In her acceptance speech at the June event, Swift tearfully thanked her family — including her parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, and her brother, Austin Swift — for “uprooting their entire lives” to move from Pennsylvania to Nashville, which she called “the songwriting capital of the world,” in support of her music career.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-27
🔮 “I started writing songs when I was a little kid and I knew from the time I wrote my first song that even if it couldn’t be my career, it would be my passion,” she said onstage.

Claims (14 extracted, 0 hedged)

Taylor Swift joked about being “estranged” from Brad Paisley since she opened for him in 2007 due to a “tour prank” gone “too far” while being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. asserted
she → joke → Fame
Before launching into her nostalgia-tinged acceptance speech at Music City Center during the organization’s 56th anniversary gala Monday night in Nashville, Tennessee, the “All Too Well” singer recalled how Paisley “filled [her] entire tour bus with live crickets, thousands of them,” per Rolling Stone. asserted
Paisley → launch → Stone
With her induction, the 36-year-old Grammy winner is the youngest artist ever to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. asserted
winner → induct → Fame
Other honorees in the 2026 class include Shawn Camp, Bruce Channel, Lyle Lovett and Lee Thomas Miller. asserted
honorees → include → Camp
George Strait was also honored with the Career Make Award. asserted
Strait → honor → Award
During her speech, Swift — who joined Paisley as an opener on his Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour in 2007 — reminisced about her early songwriting years spent in Nashville and noted the recent 20th anniversary of her self-titled debut alum, “Taylor Swift.” asserted
who → join → alum
“I started writing songs when I was a little kid and I knew from the time I wrote my first song that even if it couldn’t be my career, it would be my passion,” she said onstage. asserted
she → start → song
“It would be what I centered my entire life around.” asserted
I → center → life
Swift said she was “so incredibly honored to be inducted into this sacred club, especially at this point in [her] life.” asserted
she → say → life
“It’s not lost on me how crazy this is,” the “Cruel Summer” singer said. asserted
singer → lose → me
“I will cherish it forever because Nashville is the place that honed and polished the thing about myself and the thing about my life that I am the most proud of and the most passionate about.” asserted
I → cherish → that
“So to be here with you and to be getting to have this moment, I am truly grateful and it just feels like one of those amazing Nashville moments I’m going to revisit on a rainy day,” she concluded her speech. asserted
she → get → speech
Prior to accepting the honor, Lainey Wilson performed a stripped-down version of Swift’s hit song “Love Story. asserted
Wilson → accept → song
In her acceptance speech at the June event, Swift tearfully thanked her family — including her parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, and her brother, Austin Swift — for “uprooting their entire lives” to move from Pennsylvania to Nashville, which she called “the songwriting capital of the world,” in support of her music career. asserted
she → thank → career
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