The hype surrounding the release of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” on April 19 is bringing fresh attention to one major figure in the Swiftverse: her longtime publicist, Tree Paine.
Paine, called “one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry” in a recent Wall Street Journal profile, has been at Swift’s side for the past decade, cultivating the pop superstar’s image and fiercely defending Swift at every turn.
While Paine works largely behind the scenes, and declined to be interviewed in the Wall Street Journal’s recent profile of her, she has amassed her own fan base on social media, with some Swifties dubbing her a “queen” and a “legend” for the way she protects Swift.
On April 18, the day before the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” fans namechecked Paine in posts on the X platform, alerting her to alleged leaks of Swift’s as-yet-unreleased album.
“Someone call @treepaine !” one X user wrote, responding to a post that alleged some radio stations were playing “leaked illegal tracks” from the new album.
“one thing’s for sure and that is the hand of the queen, premium pr Tree Paine, will ensure y’all leakers WILL be dealt with! get them for me queen!” another person wrote.
Read on to learn more about Swift’s powerhouse publicist.
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She has been Taylor Swift’s publicist since 2014
Paine has been working with Swift for a decade. In 2014, she signed Swift as her sole client with her newly formed public relations firm, Premium PR.
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Before working with Swift, Paine worked for the Academy of Country Music, and later as senior vice president of publicity for the Christian and Country divisions of Warner Music Nashville, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“There isn’t a publicist in NY, LA or Nashville that wouldn’t jump at an opportunity to work with someone as talented as Taylor Swift and her management team,” Paine said in April 2024, reported the New York Post.
Paine didn’t waste any time getting to work for Swift. In April 2014, she took to Twitter to shoot down a National Enquirer story allegedly claiming that Swift had turned down a duet with country singer Randy Travis. (The link to the original National Enquirer article is no longer active.)
“This story is 100% not true. Never believe the National Enquirer,” Paine wrote on Twitter, now called X.
Since the beginning of their work relationship, Paine has been an unassuming yet constant presence alongside Swift at public events.
In pictures of Swift on the red carpet, Paine is often seen in the background, appearing to keep a watchful eye as photographers clamor for shots of her client. She also sometimes jumps in to adjust Swift’s gowns for photos.
Swift and Paine appear to have developed a close and trusting relationship over the years.
In a red carpet video clip from the premiere of her “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert movie in Los Angeles, Swift appears to deflect a photographer’s request with a playful reference to Paine.
Paine also praised Swift in a 2016 tweet celebrating the singer’s birthday.
“I met this lovely lady 10 yrs ago,” she wrote. “She is the finest example of true beauty inside and out.”
She has fiercely defended Swift over the years
Paine has built a reputation as Swift’s PR bulldog.
In December 2023, Paine slammed the celebrity gossip Instagram account, Deuxmoi, for its unverified claims that Swift and her ex-boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn, had privately gotten married prior to their split.
“Enough is enough with these fabricated lies about Taylor from Deuxmoi,” Paine wrote on X. “There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind. This is an insane thing to post. It’s time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these.”
Paine also came out swinging in defense of Swift during the singer’s feud with Ye, then known as Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian.
The dispute centered around Ye’s 2016 song, “Famous,” which included the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why? / I made that b---- famous.”
In a June 2016 interview with GQ, Kardashian, who was married to Ye at the time, claimed Swift had approved of the lyrics in a phone conversation with the rapper.
Swift, meanwhile, alleged that the rapper had not called to ask for approval for that lyric specifically, and referred to a subsequently leaked video as evidence.
In March 2020, Kardashian tweeted, “To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b—’ was used without her permission."
About an hour later, Paine refuted Kardashian’s statement on Twitter.
“I’m Taylor’s publicist and this is my UNEDITED original statement. Btw, when you take parts out, that’s editing,” she wrote. “P.S. who did you guys piss off to leak that video?”
Paine was also on hand as Swift navigated her sexual assault lawsuit against former DJ David Mueller in 2017.
Mueller sued Swift for $3 million, claiming the singer had falsely accused him of groping her at an event in 2013. Swift countersued him for $1, and a Denver jury ruled in her favor.
While cameras weren’t allowed in the courtroom, Paine could be seen outside the courthouse following the verdict.
Many Swifties consider Tree Paine a 'legend'
Paine may mostly work behind the scenes, but over the years, she has developed a following in her own right among diehard Swifties.
“THE DEVIL WORKS HARD BUT TREE PAINE WORKS HARDER!!!!! YAS QUEEN THANK U FOR UR SERVICE,” one fan posted on X in 2021.
“tree paine i hope both sides of your pillow are always cold! god bless!” another X user wrote in 2023.
Other fans have called Paine a “legend" and “style icon.”
One TikTok user has even posted multiple affectionate parody videos of Paine, imagining what the publicist might think and say about her experiences with Swift.
Fans seem to hold both admiration and intense curiosity about Paine — who, despite being a familiar face in Swift’s orbit, is still largely a mystery to her biggest supporters.
While she did make a brief appearance in a 2020 documentary about Swift, "Miss Americana," Paine shares virtually nothing about herself online, posting only about her client, and she never gives interviews.
This privacy only seems to heighten fans’ fascination with her, and in a way, this seems to echo Swift’s own relationship with the public.
Swift is certainly known for her kindness and generosity to fans, but she is also famous for playfully withholding information from her supporters (case in point: her recent Apple music word clues), teasing Swifties with cryptic mysteries and Easter egg hunts.
And while she shares intimate details about her personal life in her songs, Swift usually lets the music do the talking, rarely confirming who exactly her songs are about.
Both Swift and Paine both seem to recognize the power of sharing just enough, but not too much, and in the case of both women, the less they share, the more fans want to know.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from Today:
