Taylor Swift’s generosity to her Eras Tour team has left one employee speechless over the massive bonus and handwritten note the singer gave him.
When the Grammy-winner’s record-breaking global tour ended in December 2024, People reported that she had given out $197 million in bonuses to everyone who worked on the concert, including production staff and assistants, carpenters, dancers, and band members.
Now, in her new documentary series, The End of an Era, Swift shared one of the sweet moments where she surprised tour team members with the bonuses. The second episode of the series, which came out Friday, revealed that she prepared gifts for every team member at the end of each leg of the tour.
“Bonus day is so important, because setting a precedent with The Eras Tour is so important to me, because people who work on the road, if the tour grosses more, they get more of a bonus,” Swift said, while writing out letters for her team.
Although she didn’t disclose how much money each team member received, the docuseries did share their reactions to the bonuses. This included a clip of a production assistant, Max Holmes, with a stunned look on his face, while he opened the envelope from Swift.
Visibly shocked by the amount of money Swift gave him, he said: “I’m gonna pass out.”
Also in the docuseries, Swift brought her on-stage crew, including her dancers and band, together so she could personally hand out bonuses. While opening his card from Swift, dancer Kameron Saunders read the message out loud.
“Dearest Kam, we’ve traveled the world like we set out to do. We’ve dazzled the crowds, but we’ve missed family too. My full gratitude doesn’t come from a bank, but here’s [bleep] dollars just to say thanks. Love, Taylor,” he read, with the amount of his bonus undisclosed.
The rest of the staff burst into tears when learning of the monetary bonuses, with the “Fortnight” singer hugging many of them.
Swift began the tradition of gifting bonuses in August 2023 when she gave more than $55 million to her team after the North American leg of the tour.
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This included giving each of the truckers moving her sets around $100,000, ahead of her concert in Santa Clara, California in August 2023.
“She’s giving a sum of money that is life-changing for these people,” Mike Scherkenbach, who runs the transportation company that worked on Swift’s tour, told Rolling Stone at the time.
“A lot of these drivers are not homeowners, and a lump sum like this gives you the ability to put a down payment on a home. That’s what makes me really happy. That generosity is a game changer for these people.”
In total, the “Lavender Haze” singer performed 149 shows in 53 cities across five continents. According toThe New York Times, the tour earned $2,077,618,725 in ticket sales, which was confirmed by her production company, Taylor Swift Touring. It is estimated that merchandise will have brought in an extra $400 million.
