Taylor Swift slams a beer, spreads the cheer in Super Bowl
In the first half of Sunday’s Super Bowl Taylor Swift threw back a brew and slammed the empty cup in a moment of high emotion.
And high triumph.
It was that type of afternoon for Swift, her boyfriend’s football team, 61,629 at Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs beat the 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
When Swift was spotted chatting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a VIP suite, CBS broadcaster James Brown joked, “Roger Goodell is saying, ‘Thank you, Taylor Swift!’” The reference was clearly a nod to Swift’s capacity to draw millions of “Swifties” to the NFL.
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Swift was not part of the team’s formal team celebration on the stage near the Chiefs’ end zone. But Travis Kelce certainly was, shouting the lyrics to “Viva Las Vegas” while holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft. Later, the two smooched on the field, littered with red-and-yellow confetti.
Reports of Swift arriving in Las Vegas surfaced Sunday morning. She strode into the stadium with her mother, Andrea Swift; Blake Lively, Ice Spice and Ashley Avignone, among other friends. Avignone was at Swifts’s side during the beer-slamming event, which (as expected) drew a blend of cheers and booze. Er, boos.
Swift showed up in black outfit and with a black-and-red Chiefs jacket over her shoulder, reportedly from Wear by Erin Andrews.
Whether Swift would make it to Vegas, and by when, was an international guessing game. She took a private jet from Tokyo to Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, after closing a four-show run of her “Eras Tour” shows at Tokyo Dome.
Swift might have drawn the most attention in Las Vegas’ first Super Bowl, but she was far from the only celeb in the crowd. The mix of famous folks included, Paul McCartney, Elon Musk, Jay-Z and Beyonce, the Kardashian sisters, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Wayne Newton, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Paul Rudd, Jared Leto, Shaquille O’Neal, Jon Hamm, Jeff Goldblum, Luke Combs, Justin Harely, Bad Bunny, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Minka Kelly, Martha Stewart, Kelly Clarkson, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimmy Kimmel with sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, Shania Twain, Jason Derulo, Tobe Nwigwe, Chad Johnson, Diplo, Sharelle Rosado, Marie Osmond, Gordon Ramsay, Guy Fieri, Queen Latifa and Carrot Top.
The latter, the famous prop comic at Luxor, had what he felt was the best joke of the Super Bowl: “We have 61,000 people here, but only one Usher.” And of course, only one Swift.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.