The lavish life of Taylor Swift’s cat ‘babies’ – from £62m fortune & custom jewellery to private jets & Hollywood cameos
THE white and grey cat sits back on the luxurious sofa, staring dolefully at the camera.
You would never guess she’s worth £62million.
But the fluffy pet is in fact Taylor Swift‘s cat – and has herself earned the title of the richest pet in the world.
A star in her own right, the Scottish Fold, who Taylor adopted in June 2014 and named Olivia Benson, has starred in many of Taylor’s music videos, as well as adverts for the likes of Diet Coke and AT&T.
And she lives an extremely pampered life.
From globe trotting by Taylor’s side on private jets to appearing in the pop star’s Instagram, Olivia is not the only pampered pooch owned by the self-confessed cat lady.
“I have cats. I’m obsessed with them,” Taylor once told Time. “They’re very dignified. They’re independent. They’re very capable of dealing with their own life.”
Here we look into the lavish lives of Cats star Taylor’s three “babies” and their long list of A-list pals…
Meredith Gray
Meredith Gray was Taylor’s first cat, with the star getting the Scottish Fold pet in 2011, and naming her after the lead character in Grey’s Anatomy, played by Ellen Pompeo.
Taylor told Rolling Stone that Meredith and Olivia were named after “strong, complex, independent women”.
At first, it seemed like Meredith was going to be the Top Cat in the Swift household, as Taylor would often post videos and selfies of the adorable kitty.
She even wowed Taylor’s fans in 2012 by meowing along to her hit song I Knew You Were Trouble on the radio.
But Meredith has become much more camera-shy since Olivia came along.
In fact, in 2021, Taylor had to take to Instagram to assure her fans Meredith was okay.
While holding another of her cats, Benjamin Button, in a video, Taylor said: “We’ve been hearing some rumours on the internet recently. The truth is, Meredith just hates having her picture taken.”
She then cut to a hilarious slideshow of pictures of Meredith looking angry, labelled things like, “Strong discomfort,” “Please stop,” and “No.”
“So yeah, there it is. There’s the explanation,” Taylor added. “She’s just a really private little cat. She likes her business kept to herself.
“She doesn’t like a camera shoved in her face, and who can blame her.”
Olivia Benson
It’s Olivia who’s become the star in the Swift household since she was adopted in June 2014, and named after Mariska Hargitay’s Law & Order: SVU character – one of the many celebs this famous feline has actually met.
Right from the start, the Scottish Fold was doted upon and, just three months later, she was seen being carried around by Taylor in New York.
However, Taylor insisted to Access Hollywood: “The kitten freaks out about being put in the cat carrier. So I was just like, ‘OK, all right, we’re gonna just do this!'”
By the end of 2014, Olivia had graced the screen many times, appearing in Taylor’s music video for Blank Space, as well as adverts with Keds and Diet Coke.
In the adorable Diet Coke ad, Olivia is seen purring next to Taylor, as she sips on the drink, while more and more kittens appear, eventually surrounding them.
Although Olivia wasn’t Taylor’s first cat, it certainly seems like she’s her favourite.
The feline – who can get a whopping 2 million likes for one Instagram picture – is the logo for Taylor Swift Productions and Taylor has even worn earrings with her face on.
Olivia has been carried on the red carpet and hung out with celebs on many occasions.
Here she is with American Idol judge Paula Abdul at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.
And she has hung out with actresses Ruby Rose and Nina Dobrev too.
But it was Ed Sheeran who really took a shine to her, later buying his own Scottish Fold, Calippo, in 2017.
At the time, with both artists causing an increased interest in the cat breed, the British Veterinary Association called for a ban on Scottish Folds and for the Veterinary Record to review its use in adverts.
But that didn’t stop Olivia, who went on to star in an AT&T advert, as well as one for DirecTV, in which Taylor rode a giant unicorn version of Olivia.
Olivia even influenced some aspects of Matthew Vaugh’s 2024 spy film Argylle.
One of the film’s original posters was inspired by a shot of her sleeping in a backpack cat carrier in Taylor’s 2020 documentary Miss Americana.
And the shot from Taylor’s documentary is here:
But Meredith hasn’t been forgotten about completely.
In 2018, as she was about to star in the widely-panned movie version of musical Cats, Taylor launched a limited-edition merchandise line, The Meredith & Olivia Swift collection.
The range included patches, pins, pens, stickers and earrings, as well as two different t-shirts, costing £23 each.
Both cats were also featured in Deadpool 2, when Taylor’s pal Ryan Reynolds wore a T-shirt with a picture of them on, reading: “Olivia & Meredith Best Friends Purrrrr-Ever.”
Benjamin Button
Taylor’s newest cat is Benjamin Button, named after the F. Scott Fitzgerald character who inspired the Brad Pitt movie.
She adopted the Ragdoll after meeting him on the set of her music video for Me! which Meredith and Olivia also starred in.
“He was just a cute kitten who didn’t have a home,” she explained in an Instagram Live, adding that he was part of a program that “tries to get cute kittens adopted by putting them in commercials and stuff.”
Speaking to Brendon Urie, who sings Me! With her, Taylor recalled how the handler asked if she wanted to hold the cat before they shot the scene together.
She continued: “She handed me this tiny cat and he just starts purring and … he looks at me like, ‘You’re my mum, and we’re going to live together.’
“I fell in love. I looked at Brendon and he’s like, ‘You’re going to get the cat aren’t you?’
“He literally looked at me like, ‘Adopt me please.’ And I was like, ‘Okay I’m going to do that.’
“He’s just the best boy. He’s the best little guy.”
It didn’t take very long for Benjamin to be spoiled, as Taylor shared a video carrying him around in April 2019, just like she was doing with Olivia.
She told her followers: “I’ve never personally encountered a cat that preferred to be carried as if they’re a human baby, but you know, that – that’s what’s happening here.
“This is how he prefers to travel.”
Clearly more like Olivia than Meredith, Benjamin joined his mum on the cover of Time magazine in 2023, as she was named their Person of the Year.
What a purr-fect life!