27-year-old nurse Ashley Leechin has grown a following on social media for looking like Taylor Swift. Last September (2022,) Taylor even acknowledged that her existence. Then, she got invited to the 2023 Grammy Awards and everything fell apart.
“Yes, it is official. I have partnered with the Grammys, yes, the 2023 Grammys,” Ashley, who goes by @noitsashley13 on TikTok, shared with her audience on January 21, 2023. “I am headed there this Sunday… It is going to be an incredible night for music.”
Ashley vlogged her exciting flight to L.A. and was ready to attend one of music’s most prestigious and memory-making nights. Of course the Grammys aren’t as culturally relevant as they once were, but they’re still a pretty big deal and this was a monumental moment for a social media influencer.
The minute she landed in L.A., however, her dreams were crushed when she was unceremoniously uninvited. She was told before she got off the plane that her tickets were no longer available.
She said that the TikTok where she announced that she had “partnered with the Grammys” had been part of the deal.
@noitisashley13 #stitch with @noitisashley13 “It’s Hollywood- it happens all the time 😹” they said … well I just landed in Los Angeles but OKAY. #grammys #losangeles #65thgrammyawards #redcarpet
Ashley spent $2000 on clothes, travel, and childcare to attend the event, and has been explaining her point of view on social media because people are questioning whether she was invited at all.
One of the reasons people are questioning her was because Ashely paid for so much out of her own pocket. A lot of time influencers are gifted travel, lodging, and even clothing to attend events.
@noitisashley13 Replying to @itsdanielsweet Emails, phone call time stamps, text messages, contracts & much more to come. Follow for PART II #grammys #65thgrammyawards #sweetyhigh #losangeles #exposed
In her first TikTok, Ashley revealed that she had been invited to go to the event by the public relations company Sweetie High.
Taylor says in the video that while the company offered her tickets to The Grammys and to “partner” with the Grammys, they let her know right away that she would have to pay for her own travel and lodging and would get no fee in the deal.
This is odd as “partner” is usually a code-word for some sort of monetary exchange in the world of social media influencers. Furthermore, saying she was partnering with The Grammys implies that she was dealing directly with The Grammys themselves, when she was instead working with Sweetie High.
In this case, Ashely was offered the clout and opportunity to attend The Grammys instead of any monetary compensation.
She was allowed to bring her husband, who she calls her “acting manager.”
In Part 2 of her TikTok series about the experience Ashely made clear that she had no intent to defame or speak ill about either Sweetie High or The Grammys. “This is just a learning experience so this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she says.
@noitisashley13 Again, this is my experience, my narrative & I am not speaking ill of the @recordingacademy or @sweetyhigh – I am sharing all facts & protecting myself. #grammys #sweetyhigh #losangeles #contentcreators #truestory #greenscreen
Ashley received her first DM from Sweetie High on January 13. After much conversation about walking the red carper and “partnering” with the Grammys, Ashley received a contract on January 25, 2023.
Ashley shared the full contract in the video, which clearly reads in the very first line: “I understand and agree that the Producer reserves the right to modify, reschedule, postpone, cancel and/or not utilize the Results and Proceeds of any Archival Results and Proceeds at any time, for any reason” which essentially means that the brand reserved the right to cancel the collaboration at any time.”
In her third video, Ashely said that the company refused to sign a deal memo that she sent over asking to be able to walk with someone on the red carpet so that the press would not mistake her for Taylor Swift at the event.
They never got back to her about this, but they did send her an email asking her to make a TikTok announcing her “partnership” with the Grammys and to directly address Taylor Swift and her fans the “Swifties” in the video.
Commenters pointed out that major red flags with the email were the fact that they did not capitalize Taylor Swift, and that they misspelled “Swiftie” as “Swifite.”
At that time it was not yet announced that Taylor was coming to The Grammys, so they were also asking her to drum up interest in Taylor herself to attend the event.
Ashley said that this particular messaging wasn’t natural for her content, so she had her own take on announcing the “partnership.”
Below is the video she posted on January 31, 2023.
@noitisashley13 This feels so surreal to be apart of this amazing experience. Watch the #Grammys Sunday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on @cbs or stream on Paramount+ @recordingacademy #swifttok #swifties
She says she would have not posted that video announcing that she was going to The Grammys if she was not told that she had to do it. Otherwise, she says she would have just flown out to L.A. without telling her audience.
@noitisashley13 Contract is not binding. #grammys #65thgrammyawards #sweetyhigh #explained
After she was told that her tickets weren’t available while she was taxiing on the plane, Ashley says her PR team took over from there.
@noitisashley13 Contract is not binding. #grammys #65thgrammyawards #sweetyhigh #explained
Ashely said they tried to pay her $800 to keep quiet about everything, and then offered her more after she contacted the CEO of The Grammys, but she turned it down. “You can’t put monetary value on an experience like that,” she says.
She’s mostly upset because now she has to explain to her audience of 1.1 million followers on TikTok why she didn’t attend The Grammys after she made the big announcement.
@noitisashley13 Replying to @thecharmingavenger
In the video below, Ashley shares herself DMing with Harvey Mason Jr., who is the CEO of The Recording Academy, which presents The Grammys.
@noitisashley13 Replying to @scabes4 #greenscreen
Ashley even lives in the same city as Taylor: Nashville, TN. Last September Ashley was ecstatic when Taylor left a comment on one of her videos telling her that her mom just told her Ashley looked like her.
