Olivia Benson (cat)

Olivia Benson was purchased by Swift in June 2014 as a kitten. a degenerative joint disease, which affects all Scottish Fold cats. Olivia, like Swift's two other cats, is named after a fictional character, taking after Olivia Benson, the main protagonist of American crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played by Mariska Hargitay. Swift's eldest cat, Meredith Grey, is another Scottish Fold, named after the ''Grey's Anatomy character, and the youngest cat is Benjamin Button, a Ragdoll named after the titular character of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. Meredith and Olivia's names, Swift told Rolling Stone in September 2014, were themed after "strong, complex, independent women". In September 2014, Swift was pictured carrying Olivia around the streets of New York City; Swift noted that this was due to Olivia's inability to cope with being in a cat carrier. == Career ==

In October 2014, Keds released an advertising campaign featuring Olivia for their "Sneaky Cat" shoes, which featured Swift's birthday on the back, to promote Swift's album 1989. Later that month, Olivia featured in a Diet Coke commercial in which Swift drank Diet Coke as more and more kittens appeared with every sip. In 2015, Olivia met American actress Mariska Hargitay, who played the Olivia Benson character in Law & Order. In 2017, Ed Sheeran bought his own Scottish Fold, Calippo, to match Swift's cats. Increased interest in the breed as a result of Swift and Sheeran posting them to their Instagram accounts prompted the British Veterinary Association to call for a ban on the breed and for Veterinary Record to review its use in adverts. Later that year, Olivia appeared in an outtake of an AT&T commercial, and the following year she appeared in a DirecTV commercial in which Swift rode a giant "caticorn" version of Olivia. In April 2019, Olivia and Meredith appeared in Swift's "Me!" music video, along with Benjamin, who Swift subsequently adopted. The cats also appeared in Miss Americana, Swift's 2020 autobiographical documentary film. In May 2023, a sleeping Olivia featured in the music video for Swift's "Karma". In popular culture • In 2014, Swift appeared on The Graham Norton Show with English comedian John Cleese and cricketer Kevin Pietersen; Cleese called Olivia as "the weirdest cat I've ever seen in my life", prompting a scolding from Norton. • Olivia is the logo of Swift's in-house visual production company, Taylor Swift Productions. • In a scene in the 2018 superhero film Deadpool 2, the lead character Wade Wilson is seen wearing a t-shirt bearing images of Olivia and Meredith. • Olivia influenced some aspects of the spy film Argylle (2024), directed by Matthew Vaughn; one of the film's official posters was inspired by a shot of Olivia in a cat carrier from Miss Americana. • In 2023, Mariska Hargitay (who portrays the TV character on Law & Order SVU) adopted a cat, which she named “Karma”--in reference to Taylor Swift' s song, and as tribute to the cat who shares her character's namesake. == Awards and nominations ==