Jan Gilmore

My beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree, D-Y-I-N-G. 👻 Belfast Giants. 🏒

[Jan Gilmore @ThirteenRivers]

Anyone that knows me knows that I am pure and utter mess right now.

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

It was a Monday in early August 2023. The exhausted truck drivers of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour thought they were heading to a routine production meeting before the Los Angeles shows.
They had no idea what was coming.
Scott Swift walked in. Taylor's father didn't say much—he just began handing out envelopes. When the drivers finally peeked inside, some thought the check said $1,000. Others read $10,000. The third driver stared at his and said out loud: "This has to be a joke."
It wasn't.
$100,000.
Each driver. Nearly 50 of them. The industry standard bonus from the biggest stars? $5,000 to $10,000. Taylor had given them more than ten times that.
But here's what made it matter most: these drivers weren't wealthy. They lived in truck cabs. They hadn't seen their families in 24 weeks. They were people who would never own homes—until now. Until that envelope.
That moment of shock and tears? It was just the beginning.
Across the entire Eras Tour, Taylor quietly handed out $197 million in bonuses. The dancers. The band. The riggers. The lighting and sound technicians. The caterers. Every single person who built the show—they got bonuses, handwritten notes, and wax-sealed letters. When dancers opened theirs on camera in her docuseries, they broke down crying. Some couldn't believe she was real.
"If the tour grosses more, they get more," she explained simply. These people work hard. They deserve it.
But the crew bonuses weren't the only quiet revolution happening.
Starting in March 2023, in every city where the tour touched down, a call came to local food banks. Taylor wanted to donate. No press conference. No announcement. No photo op. One donation fed 75,000 meals. Another provided hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh produce. Across the tour, the total reached millions of meals—possibly more—all delivered in silence.
She never posted about a single one.
And it wasn't new for her.
In March 2020, when the pandemic locked down the world, Taylor scrolled through social media posts from fans who were breaking. A photographer about to lose everything. A person staring down eviction. She sent direct messages with rent money—$3,000 here, $13,000 there. Some fans got enough for months of bills. She read the Washington Post. She noticed the names. She helped.
She never announced it.
Years later, in October 2025, a two-year-old named Lilah—fighting a cancer so rare that only 58 families in America had ever known it—was filmed by her mother dancing to a Taylor Swift song. Lilah called Taylor her friend. A few days later, the GoFundMe received a $100,000 donation.
The note said: "Sending the biggest hug to my friend, Lilah! Love, Taylor."
Mike Scherkenbach has worked with the wealthiest people in music. He's seen the bonuses. He's seen the behavior. He's watched billionaires guard their money jealously.
What he saw with Taylor was different.
The biggest tour in history grossed $2 billion. The artist behind it became a billionaire from her own songwriting. And then she signed her name onto hundreds of envelopes by hand and sent enough money back to the people who built her dream that they cried opening their letters.
That isn't strategy. That isn't a publicity stunt.
That's what happens when someone, somewhere along the way, remembered what matters.

[Pop Base @PopBase]

20 years ago today, Marissa Cooper died in ‘The O.C.’

[Belfast Giants @BelfastGiants]

𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒! 🏆

#WeAreGiants

[Karen 🚀 @souldesak]

😭

[Pop Base @PopBase]

All of the guests from Taylor Swift’s most recent appearance on ‘The Graham Norton Show’ make a cameo in her ‘Opalite’ music video:

Domhnall Gleeson
Lewis Capaldi
Jodie Turner-Smith
Greta Lee
Cillian Murphy
Graham Norton

[Taylor Swift @taylorswift13]

My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, @TheGNShow. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party. They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and @LewisCapaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar. When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video. You might even recognize some friendly faces from The Eras Tour. I got to work with one of my favorite people in the world, Rodrigo Prieto, again! I had more fun than I ever imagined - Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters. Shot on film. The Opalite video is out now on Spotify & Apple Music.

https://t.co/ZOi4zNuyTD

[Taylor Nation @taylornation13]

The #OpaliteMusicVideo is out now, and it’s ✨ picture perfect! ✨ Watch on @Spotify Premium and @AppleMusic and let us know who you spot in the cast. 🪨🌵 https://t.co/5GGWcTNrhE

[Belfast Giants @BelfastGiants]

Everyone at the Belfast Giants is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of 18-year-old Blake McCaughey. Blake was a devoted, passionate Belfast Giants fan and an even more incredible young man who touched the hearts of players, coaches, staff, and supporters alike.

Blake, you will never be forgotten. Once a Giant, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 a Giant 💚

#WeAreGiants

[Erik Davis @ErikDavis]

RIP to the great Rob Reiner. STAND BY ME is a film that fundamentally changed me as a kid. It taught me that some friendships aren’t meant to last forever, but they matter forever. I watch it every year. Reiner is a legend. Here he is on how STAND BY ME changed him forever.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

Stand by Me (1986) feels especially poignant today. Rob Reiner poured his own childhood into the film, pushing for honesty over polish & letting the kids sound like real kids. A beautiful piece of his legacy.

[The River Phoenix Gallery @phoenixsgallery]

River Phoenix with director Rob Reiner on the set of Stand By Me

[Jerry O'Connell @MrJerryOC]

Love you, Rob. Sincerely.

[Movie Moments Analyst @Movies_analyst]

After Rob Reiner screened Stand by Me (1986) for Stephen King, he noticed that King was visibly shaking and wasn’t speaking.

Stephen King left the room, then returned and told Rob Reiner it was the best adaptation of his work he had ever seen. RIP Rob Reiner.

[Jan Gilmore @ThirteenRivers]

@lightsgowild This happened with my Fearless Vault snow globe. Thankfully they were able to send me a replacement even though it was sold out. So fingers crossed if it does happen they can replace them. 😬🤞🏼

[Jan Gilmore @ThirteenRivers]

@kmadden96 Oh it was never a doubt that I was getting it hahaha if I didn’t I fear the person I would have turned into 😂🙈

[Jan Gilmore @ThirteenRivers]

The absolute panic I just went into. SECURED. She’s coming home to be with her sisters. 😭🫶🏻 #AcousticPianoSnowGlobe @taylornation13

[rachel ♡ 🩷 @beginagaintv]

im gonna commit multiple violent crimes if i dont get this snowglobe

[Jayna 💕 @Eras_Resale]

And if I don’t get one, it will be EVERYONE’S problem