Taylor Swift is a mega star who has won: 14 Grammy Awards (including four for Album of the Year - the most won by an artist); an Emmy Award; 40 American Music Awards (the most won by an artist); 49 Billboard Music Awards (the most won by an artist);118 Guinness World Records; 30 MTV Video Music Awards (including five Video of the Year wins - the most by an act);12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award); 8 Academy of Country Music Awards and 2 Brit Awards.
She is loved and cheered by millions of fans around the world. If someone were to inform you that she got booed; you would believe that the person is crazy. Alas, that has come to be true. She attended the Super Bowl this past Sunday - supposedly for her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce.
When the singer appeared on the Jumbotron video wall, some Eagles fans started booing her. Dropping her usual Kansas City red, she opted for a double-breasted white Saint Laurent blazer over a pair of bedazzled Daisy Dukes and a white Alaïa bodysuit,;with thigh-high white stiletto boots.
All of that white immediately had some online speculating that Taylor Swift was having a bridal moment and preparing to get engaged (not to mention unexpectedly matching the all-white Akris outfit of Ivanka Trump, who accompanied her father to the game). A more likely explanation is that Ms. Swift was simply coordinating with the white away jerseys of the Chiefs, just like Britney Mahomes. Instead of a red number on her back, Taylor Swift carried a cherry-red Givenchy handbag and wore the ruby red Lorraine Schwartz “T” necklace she had draped around her thigh at the Grammys.
As a result, it was hard not to think that, in the game of fan fashion, she was dressing to win. The blazer and boots were fully in line with what increasingly seems like Taylor Swift’s uniform as chief Chiefs WAG. Over the last season, she has become more and more comfortable turning game days into catwalks, matching the tunnel walk of Mr. Kelce with entrance-making looks of her own. As Travis Kelce said during a recent pre-Super Bowl news conference, "Tay’s always gonna be dressed head-to-toe, looking the flyest."
Early on in their relationship, Taylor Swift wore mostly fan gear, like the customised Chiefs jacket with Travis Kelce's number that was designed by her fellow WAG, Kristin Juszczyk (wife of 49er, Kyle). This season, however, Taylor Swift’s stylist, Joseph Cassell, who worked with her on the Eras Tour, has been involved in creating her game-day style. Which, not surprisingly, started to look pointedly similar to her late-stage Eras style (unlike, say, her early fairy princess style or her pandemic flowy folk style).
In January, during the play-offs, she wore a Chanel romper with a Chanel pearl belt, bouclé jacket and quilted Chanel bag. And for the A.F.C. championship game, it was a Louis Vuitton logo-bedecked jacket, beanie, gloves, bag and boots. In other words, fashion and football have clearly pledged their troth.
There was no on-field celebration for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce after this Super Bowl. Only consolation far away from the prying TV cameras. Swift found herself booed by a pro-Eagles crowd and then had to endure their countless cheers as Philadelphia rolled to a 40-22 victory at the Superdome.
Last year, Swift and Kelce locked lips on the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as red and gold confetti fell like rain after the Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl — the duo’s first since becoming a sports-and-music power couple.
That was a celebratory affair for Swift all night: She won a beer-chugging contest to raucous cheers from the pro-Chiefs crowd and she spent the game partying with celebrity friends including Blake Lively and Lana Del Rey.
Yet, much has changed over the past 12 months. Many sports fans have turned against Swift, whom they believe gets far too much television time during NFL games. Even more fans have turned against the Chiefs, who have replaced the Patriots of Tom Brady as the juggernaut that NFL fans love to hate.
So it wasn’t surprising that Swift - who grew up near Philadelphia but now roots for Kansas City - was booed when shown on the videoboards alongside rapper, Ice Spice, during a break in the first quarter Sunday night. She gave a bit of a side-eye look and wrinkled her nose when she realised the boos were for her.
By the second half and with the Eagles in control, the cameras were staying away from her entirely and after the game, President Donald Trump took a dig at Swift, who endorsed Kamala Harris in last year’s election. "The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift," Trump posted on social media. "She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA (Make America Great Again) is very unforgiving!"
Swift and Kelce became a couple early last season, when the four-time All-Pro tight end invited the songstress to watch him play in a game against the Chicago Bears. Kelce had famously tried and failed to deliver a friendship bracelet to Swift when she had played at Arrowhead Stadium but she took him up on the offer to attend a game and their relationship blossomed.
Perhaps being shut out at the Grammy Awards last week was a harbinger of a long, difficult night. In 2024, she had won album of the year for her 14th career Grammy a week before joining Kelce for their on-field Super Bowl celebration.
That week was arguably peak Taylor and Travis, not that their stardom has dimmed since. In 2024, after the Grammy's, she was in the midst of her Eras Tour and had played a concert in Tokyo before making a mad dash to Las Vegas for the game.
This year, she eased into the Big Easy, arriving in time to join Kelce on a double date with Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, on Friday night. The couples dined at Lilette, a French restaurant near the Garden District.
On the eve of the big game, Swift was spotted with musicians, Danielle and Alana Haim, at Gianna Restaurant.
The big question swirling early Sunday was what might happen if Kelce won a third straight Super Bowl ring and fourth overall. Would he pick such a festive moment to propose? BetMGM Sportsbook gave 8/1 odds for those willing to wager on it.
That possibility was snuffed out well before the game was over. The Chiefs fell to 19-4 with Swift in the crowd and Sunday was the first time she saw them lose in the play-offs.
“We haven’t played that bad all year. You don’t lose like that without everything going bad,” Kelce said.
Now, the question is whether the 35-year-old Kelce - who made himself scarce in the post-game locker room - will be back for another Super Bowl run. He has been non-committal about playing next year and some within the Chiefs organisation are bracing for a potential retirement after a record-setting career that will almost certainly land him in the Hall of Fame.
Donald Trump reposted a Conservative account that compared video clips of the president and daughter Ivanka Trump receiving applause while Taylor Swift was getting jeered. "Trump gets massive cheers at the Super Bowl while Taylor Swift gets booed. - The world is healing!" read the post.
Donald Trump has had a long-standing beef with Taylor Swift after the latter endorsed Kamala Harris in the presidential run-in. Days after the endorsement, Mr Trump took to social media and claimed: "I hate Taylor Swift."
Donald Trump made history on Sunday as he became the first sitting president in U.S.A. history to attend the marquee event, while Taylor Swift also went to last year's game to support her boyfriend in their win against the San Francisco 49ers.
A source close to Kelce said: "Travis was aware of Taylor getting booed and he felt helpless. Seeing the look on her face got to him. He always protects her and it broke his heart. He was already having a tough night and the fact that the stadium was predominantly Eagles fans didn't help. Travis knows that this hurt her and anyone can see this."
"It’s clear to many that the Eagles fans feel she is a traitor of sorts - being from Pennsylvania and even wearing Eagles gear prior to dating him. Travis believes that it was unnecessary for Trump to take a dig at her especially after he voiced that he was honoured for a president to be there."
"After Taylor being shut out for a Grammy and Travis losing the biggest game of the year it just hasn’t been a good week for them. But he knows that even though this is not a happy ending to the season having her love gives him so much joy."
In the moment, Swift clearly noticed the booing and a lip reader revealed that she said: 'Aww what, what's going on' as it happened.
She gave a mocking side-eye response as fans mercilessly mocked her - and it turned out to just be the start of a terrible night for the Chiefs clan. On social media, Serena Williams leapt to the defense of her friend, posting: 'I love you @taylorswift13 dont listen to those booo!!'
Fans fear Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are destined to call it quits this year as they both come to terms with high-profile defeats over the past week. After the game, he could be seen heading to the locker room on the verge of tears before ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole rubbed salt in the wounds by celebrating on the field with Philadelphia moments later.
Kelce's defeat in the Super Bowl comes almost a week after Swift, who was not seen with her man after the game, failed to hold on to her Album of the Year crown at the Grammy's. The songstress was nominated for her, 'Tortured Poets Department' album, yet missed out in the end when Beyonce scooped the prize for, 'Cowboy Carter'.
As they both deal with their respective setbacks, one fan has pointed out that Taylor and Travis are now entering the 'loser' phase of their relationship, which will test it like never before.
TikTok user, Ali King, said in a viral clip on the app: 'Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are about to enter a new phase of their relationship, because they have only been with each other when they've been winning. 'So now they have to be with each other and see that side; see the losing side of Taylor Swift, see the losing side of Travis Kelce. 'They don't know each other as losers, they only know each other as winners.'
A number of fans began speculating over how it could affect the couple, with one replying: 'The honeymoon phase of the relationship is officially over. Time to see each other for who they really are'.
While another said: 'And it's especially hard on a man's ego when they lose. So it will be interesting to see if they survive this test in the relationship.' Others, however, have gone one step further by predicting that Swift and Kelce will go their separate ways now that the NFL season is over.
'Taylor and Travis will split up after the season for sure,' one user insisted. 'She's not even sitting with momma Kelce - incoming song about Travis'.
Another posted: 'Now watch this offseason "Breaking: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce decide to split" #SBLIX'. And another simply asked: 'How long do you think it’ll be before Taylor and Travis announce their split?'
It's not hard to understand why she was being booed. Rooting for a team that goes against your hometown is essentially a foregone conclusion for booing. Sport fans can overlook such matters as celebrity fandom if it means supporting their team and possibly giving them an edge.
As for the relationship, I would agree that it's entering into a new phase. I think it's going a bit far suggesting that it's over. It's just a minor setback. With everything that's happened in the past week; it vital that they be together to console each other.