Opinion | Taylor Swift, a thousand crickets and the cautionary tale of celebrity pranks that go too far - Toronto Star

Today’s first lesson for celebrities: keep your hijinks light breezy. Or risk danger.

Taylor Swift at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Oct. 26, 2026. “It’s only a matter of time until an extreme celebrity prank goes horribly wrong,” writes Vinay Menon.

Vinay Menon is the Star’s pop culture columnist based in Toronto. Reach him via email: vmenon@thestar.ca

A celebrity prank is like a normie prank with a bigger budget.

How much does it cost to buy thousands of live crickets? No clue. Maybe I’ll ask Brad Paisley. The country singer introduced Taylor Swift this week as she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Swift’s speech began with a playful nod to her friend.

“I’m really surprised to see you here, actually, because we’ve been estranged since 2007,” she told him, before explaining to the audience. “He took a tour prank too far. Filled my entire tour bus with live crickets — thousands of them … I considered buying a pet lizard to eradicate the problem.”

It’s weird to think Ms. Swift might now own a bearded dragon named Dwight Schrute that has 50 million followers on Instagram.

Why did Paisley think it would be hilarious to turn a 17-year-old’s tour bus into a mobile insectarium? Is this a compulsion? Didn’t he also once hide raw chicken inside Blake Shelton’s ride until the mystery stench overwhelmed the crew?

Celebrity pranks are not limited to the road.

The former president’s viral hit exposed Trump’s vanity and offered Democrats a blueprint.