Maker of Taylor Swift T-shirt Says Pop Singer's 'People' Want Him To Stop

Kevin Adams has two teenage daughters.  ‘Nuff said. Almost.

"If I didn’t have daughters, I probably would never have done it, thought of it. The whole idea was just be do it in a fun, pop-artsy way. And If you weren’t local, you wouldn’t even get it," said Adams, owner and founder of J.Mack Studios in Westerly.

Adams' daughters happen to be, surprise, “big Taylor Swift fans."

Earlier this month, Adams and one of his graphic designers created the now ubiquitous and infamous OMG!!! Watch Hill!?!? T-shirt featuring an Andy Warhol-esque designed image of pop superstar Taylor Swift. Swift and her parents recently settled in Watch Hill; the iconic singer paid $17.7 million for the mansion locally known as the Harkness House overlooking East Beach and Block Island Sound.

“It’s not derogatory in any way. And I really doubt she has any problem with it,” Adams said.

But her ‘people’ do.

A pair of celebrity blogs contacted him, but he says he was misquoted.

“I never said, like Perez Hilton and Radaronline (quoted) I wished she’d leave me alone.  I said I wish ‘he would leave me alone,” Adams said.

The ‘he’ to whom he is referring is the Swift rep who he says has threatened the t-shirt manufacturer to stop making the shirt. Adams is selling the tee for $15. The Swift rep has repeatedly called and emailed Adams threatening action, Adams says.

“I got a phone call out of the blue. He’s been a bully and a jerk. I have contacted a lawyer and it’s my understanding that since her name is not on it, there’s no problem. The picture is a free one that can be found all over the Internet, everywhere,” Adams said. Read in the public domain. “My guess he’s putting together a (cease and desist) letter right now.”

Adams said while he hasn’t discussed the brouhaha surrounding the shirt with his daughters, who happen to be "big Taylor Swift fans," he said he's pretty sure they are “okay with it.” 

“I never intended to send samples to big box stores for them to sell hundreds of thousands of these shirts. It’s just a local thing," he explained. "If you live in the area, you get it.”

In addition to being out and about all over Watch Hill and Westerly – from the Cooked Goose to furniture shopping at Miceli's downtown — Swift also spent the first day of summer last week in downtown Mystic. 

To catch up on all things Taylor Swift, check out these Stonington Patch stories:

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