You would think Taylor Swift personally hurt someone’s family with the way she was booed by the crowd attending the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday evening. Thankfully, real queens stand up for their sisters, and Serena Williams rushed to her defense.
“I love you @taylorswift13,” the tennis star posted on X minutes after the singer showed up on the Caesars Superdome jumbotron. Swift looked stunned and confused as she reacted to the jeering presumably coming from Philadelphia Eagles supporters. “Don’t listen to those booo!!,” Williams added.
The two women have been friends for years, with Swift even bringing Williams up on stage during her 1989 World Tour in 2016. Just last year, the 43-year-old attended the Eras Tour, marking the occasion with a video captioned “Oh, just a casual Swiftie over here (maybe not so casual).”
Though the sports champion had a particularly exciting night, joining half-time show performer Kendrick Lamar for a cheeky crip walk moment during the rendition of his hit Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” Swift’s evening wasn’t as bright. The “So High School” singer was in Louisiana to support her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who reached the Super Bowl for a third year running, but ultimately lost out on what would have been an historic three-peat.
This time last year, Swift had just won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, announced a new album, and was at the height of her record-breaking world tour. She also joined Kelce for the big game then, celebrating the Chiefs’ win on the field afterward in a romantic chat and kiss that made waves around the globe. Her 2025, however, isn’t going as smoothly.
Swift didn’t win a single of the six awards she was up for last Sunday, and Kelce put on one of his worst displays of the season this weekend. The Chiefs lost 22–40 to the Eagles, only adding to the annoyance of having to deal with hateful fans and President Donald Trump’s relentless childish gloating on social media. Because he has nothing more pressing to worry about, like, I don’t know, running the actual country.
Though Trump chalked the booing up to MAGA being “unforgiving,” after the singer chose to endorse his adversary Kamala Harris during the November elections, the hate probably came from bitter Eagles fans instead. Groups of supporters were also filmed shouting “F*** Taylor Swift” during rowdy post-game celebrations as they burned their competitors’ jerseys.
Swift famously hails from West Reading, Pennsylvania, just 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The artist and her family supported the local team all of her life, up until she met Kelce. Some Eagles fans have felt cheated by her staunch support of the Chiefs, upset over losing the backing of one of the most successful and popular musicians of all time.
When both teams qualified for the Super Bowl, Swift’s fandom predicted tensions would be high. Still, it is also true that the singer, ultimately a supporter of both Chiefs and Eagles, wound up as one of the few people to come out of the evening victorious regardless of the game’s result.
Those weirdly enraged fans who would rather spend their time targeting the girlfriend of a player with zero influence over the actual game of football, instead of basking in the glory of their own team’s success, however? They’ll likely find that their lives are much less exciting and fulfilling than that of a gorgeous, über-talented, 14-time Grammy winner. Enjoy the Super Bowl win, though, I guess.
Published: Feb 10, 2025 12:39 pm