Swifties snap up $25 street litter gathered near Kelce wedding

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Devotees of Taylor Swift have shelled out US$25 apiece for litter scooped from the pavement near the pop star’s marriage to National Football League player Travis Kelce, among them cigarette ends and an ovulation test.

Last Friday a New York artist gathered the refuse from streets around Madison Square Garden, where the pair hosted a glittering reception for hundreds of famous guests under intense worldwide attention.

By Wednesday, every separately listed piece had sold out less than a day after listings went live. The haul included bottle tops, Ring Pop sweets, police caution tape, drinking straws, cutlery, and one left-side AirPod.

“It’s getting a lot of Swifties who just want a tangential piece of the wedding,” said Justin Gignac, who is offering the material through his site New York City Garbage.

Online, each piece is labelled a “sculpture” and locked inside a small plastic cube so nothing leaks or smells. Gignac told AFP the 50 sales so far have brought in US$1,250, and he may list further lots.

“I try to commemorate cultural moments in New York City, and this seemed to be a big one, so just capturing a little time capsule from that moment in time,” he said.

Gignac, who already markets other urban refuse on the same site, said he knotted some objects to “hammer home the wedding theme.” He stressed the debris came from beyond the cordons ringing Madison Square Garden for the ceremony, not from inside the arena.

Fans tracked last week’s opulent nuptials closely. Many have charted the 14-time Grammy winner’s romances mainly through her songwriting. Crowds travelled to New York hoping for a sighting, while some observers likened the star-packed occasion to a “royal wedding.”