Taylor Swift Won’t Play For Horace Mann School For The Deaf, Donates Money Instead

Sadly, Taylor Swift will not be playing a concert for the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. The country singer, Papa John’s, and Chegg decided to pull the Allston school from competition this weekend because many of its votes were cast by “internet trolls” on Reddit and 4chan.

The Papa John’s sponsored competition revolved around Facebook votes. The school with the most votes would get a concert from Taylor Swift. The competition went viral last August when internet pranksters decided that it would be hilarious to have Swift perform in front of a bunch of deaf students.

The prank may have started with somewhat malicious intentions but the school’s headmaster, Jeremiah Ford, said that his students would have loved a Taylor Swift contest.

Ford said:

“There are accommodations that make music come alive for deaf people… They have different abilities. They’re not disabled. They’re not impaired. It might have been done with mal intent, and shame on them, but what a great opportunity for us.”

The school received thousands of votes but Swift, Papa John’s, and text book maker Chegg decided to disqualify the school.

But the Horace Mann School for the Deaf isn’t walking away empty handed. Swift will donate $10,000 to the school. Papa John’s, Chegg, Cover Girl, and America’s Greetings will match that donation. VH1’s Save the Music program has also decided to donate $10,000 in instruments to the students.

Swift also said that she will be giving every student at Horace Mann a ticket to her next show in the area.

How do you think Taylor Swift, Papa John’s, and Chegg handled the situation? Should Taylor Swift have played at the school? Is this a pretty good prize for being disqualified?

Earlier this year internet pranksters took over a similar competition held by Walmart. That competition ended up sending Pit Bull to Kodiak, Alaska.