Rumours about Taylor Swift making an appearance at Amazon Beach in Cannes were swirling around the halls of the Palais and up and down the beach clubs and bars along la Croisette.
As it turned out, the Shake It Off singer didn’t make an appearance — though her boo Travis Kelcie was spotted in Cannes.
Though the rumours were so pervasive the Amazon team was in panic stations ahead of its party.
“We are very concerned about capacity tonight. Unless you are registered for the conference, you are not allowed to attend. No customers will be registered from the waitlist,” wrote one staffer in an internal Slack channel seen by B&T.
“When we hit capacity, we will be admitting customers 1 in 1 out,” they continued. “This is controlled by the city of Cannes, not at our discretion. We have no power over this and there is nothing we can do. The team has been working very hard, please be sure to treat them with with respect and understand that some things are out of our control.
“THERE ARE NO SURPRISE TALENTS. TAYLOR SWIFT IS NOT COMING. THIS IS NOT A JOKE, THE CITY IS CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY [capitals in original]. If your customer asks, please help to dispel the rumour.”
There were many celebs making appearances at Cannes, however. US hip-hop producers Timbaland and Swizz Beats joined X (née Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino on a panel to discuss their new media partnership with the platform. Lenny Kravitz was seen at the MediaLink opening party, while Jessica Alba joined them for a panel. One B&T staffer spotted Jared Leto wandering down la Croisette and French super DJs Justice performed at Spotify Beach.
Camilla Cabello was a guest of Universal Music, Kelis and DJ Honey Dijon played at a Snapchat party on Monday. The Chainsmokers performed at Yahoo Beach with Shaboozey and Halsey making special appearances. US actresses Andie MacDowell and Kate Hudson were also spotted.
Rumours that there was a similar clamour when B&T editorial consultant, MFA Hall of Famer and bon vivant Greg ‘Sparrow Graham was spotted walking out of Yahoo Beach following The Chainsmokers’ performance with Scott Galloway have proven to be false.
B&T contacted Amazon for comment.
