Taylor Swift’s legal team has pushed back strongly against a lawsuit filed by former Las Vegas showgirl Maren Flagg, who performs as Maren Wade, over the title of Swift’s album The Life of a Showgirl. As per Variety reports, Swift’s attorneys called the claim that audiences could confuse the two brands “absurd.”
Maren Flagg had filed the lawsuit in a California federal court in late March. She owns the trademark for “Confessions of a Showgirl,” which she registered in 2015 and has used for a newspaper column, podcast, and cabaret performances. According to the lawsuit, both titles “share the same structure, the same dominant phrase, and the same overall commercial impression,” while also targeting similar audiences in the entertainment space.
As per Variety reports, Flagg sought a preliminary injunction that would immediately stop Swift from using The Life of a Showgirl branding. However, Swift’s legal team dismissed the argument in a court filing submitted on Wednesday.
“This motion, just like Maren Flagg’s lawsuit, should never have been filed. It is simply Ms. Flagg’s latest attempt to use Taylor Swift’s name and intellectual property to prop up her brand…” the filing stated.
Swift’s lawyers also rejected the comparison between the two women’s work. “Plaintiff attempts to broadly lump her cabaret show and defendants’ musical album together as ‘entertainment services.’ That comparison is absurd,” the attorneys wrote.
As per Variety reports, the filing highlighted the major difference in scale between Swift’s stadium tours and Flagg’s performances, which allegedly take place in much smaller venues, including “55+ active community,” “RV & Golf Resort,” and private supper clubs. The lawyers also noted that Flagg’s website currently lists no upcoming performances.
Swift’s legal team further questioned why Flagg waited nearly eight months after the album announcement to seek urgent relief. They argued that instead of distancing herself from the album, Flagg spent months connecting her own brand to Swift’s project online.
“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,” the brief stated.
The filing added that before Swift announced the album in August 2025, Flagg had never used the phrase “The Life of a Showgirl” in her promotions. According to Swift’s lawyers, after the announcement, Flagg referenced Swift, the album, or the phrase more than 40 times across Instagram and TikTok.
As per Variety reports, Swift’s attorneys also suggested they could pursue legal action against Flagg over alleged unauthorized use of Swift’s music, artwork, and branding.
“Far from showing any concern about the album after its announcement, Ms. Flagg spent several months centering her brand on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’s’ name, artwork, music, and lyrics to promote her little-known cabaret show,” the filing read.
The brief claimed that just four days after Swift unveiled the album title and artwork, Flagg launched a new podcast allegedly imitating Swift’s visuals, logo, and promotional style.
“Each of these advertisements constitutes actionable infringement,” Swift’s lawyers argued, adding that TAS Rights Management “will be pursuing appropriate remedies for that.”
The filing also accused Flagg of using hashtags such as “#thelifeofashowgirl,” “#swifties,” “#ts12,” and “#taylornation” alongside audio from the album title track in promotional posts.
“In addition to attempting to confuse consumers, plaintiff’s commercial use of Ms. Swift’s art constitutes clear infringement under federal law,” the filing stated.
Meanwhile, Flagg’s lawsuit argued that Swift’s album sales were damaging her own brand visibility and business opportunities. According to the complaint, “Each additional sale compounds the confusion in the marketplace and further erodes [Wade’s] ability to be recognized as the soul source of her Confessions of a Showgirl brand.” The lawsuit also claimed that Swift’s massive online presence pushed Flagg’s content lower in search results.
As per Variety reports, Flagg’s attorney Jaymie Parkkinen had earlier told Rolling Stone that his client “spent more than a decade building ‘Confessions of a Showgirl.’ She registered it. She earned it.” He also pointed out that the Trademark Office initially refused Swift’s application for The Life of a Showgirl, citing a possible conflict with Flagg’s trademark.
Swift’s legal team, however, argued that the album title is protected under the First Amendment. The attorneys cited previous legal cases, including Rogers v. Grimaldi and Lost Int’l, LLC v. Germanotta, involving Lady Gaga’s Mayhem album title dispute.
According to the filing, expressive works like albums and songs are protected unless a title is either unrelated to the work itself or deliberately misleading.
“This is because titles of expressive works ‘implicate the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech’ and ‘consumers are less likely to mistake the use of someone else’s mark in an expressive work for a sign of association, authorship, or endorsement.’ Songs and album titles are the core type of expressive First Amendment work that Rogers protects.”
The attorneys also pointed out that several similarly titled projects have existed since Flagg secured her trademark, including Confessions of a Goddess, Confessions of a Vegas Showgirl, Portrait of a Showgirl, and The Last Showgirl, without any legal disputes.
As per Variety reports, the response brief was filed by attorneys Max N. Wellman, J. Douglas Baldridge, and Katherine Wright Morrone on behalf of Swift and co-defendants TAS Rights Management, UMG Recordings, and Bravado International Group Merchandising Services. No trial date has been announced so far.
