Singer Taylor Swift is arguably one of the most famous people on the planet.

Now, we all know that fame has a price, but would you be willing to pay it if you can’t even go to the bathroom by yourself?

That’s what fans were asking after footage surfaced that showed the “Anti-Hero” singer being accompanied into the bathroom by a male security guard during the Super Bowl.

Drew is a longtime security guard of the “Love Story” singer, but she must feel really comfortable with him to not only invite him into the women’s bathroom, but also have him stand outside the stall where he can hear her do her business. Given that she was already in a VIP suite, she already had access to a mostly private bathroom. However, it seems she felt that she needed the extra security.

In addition to general concerns about safety, there are additional concerns about privacy that some may not have considered. The details of her bathroom trip weren’t disclosed, but I could imagine that the security guard made sure that the stalls on either side of her were vacant to prevent prying eyes. After all, someone could make a lot of money with a shot of Taylor Swift using the bathroom.

Although Taylor Swift is beloved by the Kansas City Chiefs due to her relationship with their tight end, Travis Kelce, she was not shown any love at the Super Bowl, where she was booed by fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, who were ultimately victorious that night.

There are two schools of thought as to why Swift was being booed. Some believe that Swift is a “traitor” because she hails from Pennsylvania and seems to have been a fan of the Eagles. In addition to wearing an Eagles jersey during a live performance, she even worked the lyric “With my Eagles t-shirt hanging from the door” into her 2020 song “Gold Rush.”

The other has to do with her political affiliations. In the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, the “Look What You Made Me Do” singer publicly threw her support behind then-Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. The public support from Swift prompted now-President Donald Trump to declare, “I hate Taylor Swift!” in a Truth Social post a few days later. Trump, who was at the game, also mocked her being booed online.

In the Netflix-produced “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” the singer opened up about wanting to be on “the right side of history” and endorsed Democrat candidate Phil Bredesen in a midterm election in her home state of Tennessee. Unfortunately, Bredesen ultimately lost to Republican Marsha Blackburn.

“Definitely, that was a bigger disappointment for me,” Swift told Variety at the time when asked which was the bigger letdown – the election loss or that year’s Grammy snub. “I think what’s going on out in the world is bigger than who gets a prize at the party.”

“Every time I didn’t speak up about politics as a young person, I was applauded for it,” Swift continued. “It was wild. I said, ‘I’m a 22-year-old girl — people don’t want to hear what I have to say about politics.’ And people would just be like, ‘Yeahhhhh!’”

After her Bredesen endorsement, Swift’s father reportedly went out and bought armored cars to escort the singer around. “My dad is terrified of threats against my safety and my life, and he has to see how many stalkers we deal with on a daily basis, and know that this is his kid. It’s where he comes from,” Swift said.

However, she doesn’t regret the decision to speak up.  “This was a situation where, from a humanity perspective, and from what my moral compass was telling me I needed to do, I knew I was right, and I really didn’t care about repercussions,” she added.

While Swift’s decision to speak up and stand by her own beliefs is admirable, it does still raise concerns that she is not only putting her life on the line. Her family, her friends, her boyfriends, and their families, are all targets due to her fame – and that’s not to mention the crew that she traveled with during her highly popular Eras Tour.

Swift’s Vienna tour stop was canceled due to the threat of an attack last August, where approximately 200,000 were estimated to gather to see the singer perform live. It’s a sobering reminder that Swift’s fame not only endangers her life, but the lives of her fans as well. That’s why, as unfortunate as it is, it makes complete sense for a security guard to follow Swift into the bathroom, as uncomfortable as it might have been to those other women to have a male presence in there with them (unless they demanded everyone clear the bathroom to give Swift some alone time.)

If someone did try to attack Swift during a bathroom break, when she is at her most vulnerable, it is possible that those around her could get caught in the crossfire. That’s why her security is there. Although her security is the primary focus, it does make things just a little bit safer for those around her. While it’s far from an ideal situation for anyone, this is the price of her fame and she has no choice but to pay it.

The real question is, how comfortable is she with this level of fame? At this point, it doesn’t matter if she decides to retire from music tomorrow. She has created a lasting legacy and will need security to follow her every single day for the rest of her life due to her success. Sure, she can stay in the fanciest hotels, drive the nicest cars, and take the most lavish vacations, but that’s because she also can’t do many of the things that we take for granted, like shopping at Target and using a public bathroom without an escort.

Taylor Swift herself knows this. In her 2012 song “The Lucky One,” she sings about a celebrity who decides to throw away her famous lifestyle in order to try to live a normal life:

“They say you bought a bunch of land somewhere / Chose the Rose Garden over Madison Square / And it took some time, but I understand it now.”

That’s what Swift sang 13 years ago. Considering how her fame has skyrocketed since then, it remains to be seen how long her star power will last, if she even wants it to. It’s possible that she may decide to settle down, have a family, and attempt to live a “normal” life. But even if she achieves some sense of normalcy, she’ll never be able to fade from the public eye entirely.

And she’ll still need a security guard to follow her every time she tries to use a public bathroom.