Taylor Swift's Cats Are the Most Famous Pets in Pop Culture — Here's Why

How It Started: Meet the Three Cats

Swift adopted Meredith Grey — named after the Grey's Anatomy protagonist — in 2011. In 2014, Olivia Benson arrived, named after the Law & Order: SVU detective. Benjamin Button joined in 2019, appearing first in the music video for ME! alongside Brendon Urie. Three cats. Three eras. One feline empire.

The $97 Million Cat: Olivia Benson's Financial Empire

In 2023, Forbes calculated that Olivia Benson was the third-wealthiest pet influencer in the world, with an estimated net worth of $97 million — derived from music video appearances, merchandise, and sponsored content. Olivia has appeared in ads for Diet Coke and Keds. She is, by any financial definition, a brand.

The Aesthetic: What Taylor's Cats Say About Her Style

Swift's choice of Scottish Folds is deliberate in its visual logic. The breed — known for folded ears, round faces, and cartoonish plushness — reads as inherently luxurious. The color palette of Meredith and Olivia (both grey and white) and Benjamin (warm ginger) maps almost perfectly onto Swift's shifting aesthetic eras: the cool grey of reputation, the warm cottage softness of folklore and evermore.

Cultural Impact: When Cats Become Characters

What separates Swift's cats from other celebrity pets is narrative integration. They are characters in the Taylor Swift universe. Olivia appears in the ME! video with full choreography. Meredith was famously terrorized by Ed Sheeran on camera. Benjamin features in Lover-era content. Swift talks about them in interviews with the specificity of someone describing beloved family members — not props.

The Cat Lady Reclamation

There is something culturally significant about the world's biggest pop star proudly, loudly, joyfully being a cat lady. Swift has made it aspirational. She has made it chic. And in doing so, has contributed to a normalization of pet personhood in popular culture that may be her most enduring cultural contribution.

What Their Fame Means for Pet Culture

The Swift cats have done something that transcends celebrity pet fandom: they have contributed to a normalization of pet personhood. When 97 million Instagram followers watch Taylor treat her cats as full personalities with opinions and histories, it subtly shifts how we collectively think about our own animals. Pets are not accessories. They are co-stars.