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A new site called “Panama Playlists” has claimed to expose the Spotify accounts of prominent figures including Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The site, which the New York Post says quietly went live Wednesday, is run by an anonymous sleuth who claims they have been “scraping” accounts of celebrities, politicians and journalists since the summer of 2024.
The sleuth said their team has access to “playlists, live listening feed, everything. I know what songs they played, when, and how many times.”
“Heard of the Panama Papers? That exposed offshore bank accounts. This is about onshore vibes,” the site read.
So, what did the sleuth claim to find? Vance is into boy bands with Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” on his playlists, according to the site.
Bondi loves her 2000s hits, including Nelly’s “Hot In Herre,” Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” and Usher’s “Yeah!” the sleuth claims.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had a playlist labeled “Baby Shower,” which included strong female singers such as Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls) and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” per the site.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
The sleuth told the New York Post, “I gained confidence in each person by looking at lots of signals.
“An example is Pam Bondi. Her longtime partner is John Wakefield, and her profile has an old playlist called ‘john’ and an old shared playlist with a user named ‘John Wakefield,’ so that gives me a lot of confidence it is her account.”
Leavitt’s apparent “Baby Shower” playlist was also mentioned in the interview with the sleuth, saying, “She had a baby a month after the playlist was made.”
The sleuth told the New York Post only publicly available information was collected.
A Spotify spokesperson told The Independent if the sleuth is using a Spotify account to scrape information from public playlists, they are violating the company’s Terms of Use.
The guidelines the spokesperson referenced prohibit making available to the public any content made available through the music streaming service.
There were also prominent figures outside of Washington mentioned in the “Panama Playlists,” such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The tech executive’s “My Shazam Tracks” playlist includes David Guetta, OneRepublic’s “I Don’t Wanna Wait” and Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On,” according to the site.
The sleuths also listed some 1970s songs late-night host Seth Meyers is claimed to enjoy: Jackson Browne’s “The Fuse” and Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E’s in Love.”
NBC weatherman Al Roker is an Elton John fan, the website claims. “Panama Playlists,” said his No. 1 song of the past year is John’s “Philadelphia Freedom,” followed by “Are You Ready for Love.” Roker previously told his fans John’s music helped him through his health issues in 2022.
The Independent has reached out to OpenAI for comment from Altman and representatives from NBC Universal for comment from Meyers and Roker.
