A third Super Bowl ring for Travis, but no diamond ring for Tay Tay
What happens in Vegas did not stay in Vegas as celebrities flocked, en masse, to Sin City on Monday to take in the 58th annual Super Bowl.
What happens in Vegas did not stay in Vegas as celebrities flocked, en masse, to Sin City on Monday to take in the 58th annual Super Bowl.
Taylor Swift led the charge, travelling back from Tokyo on her private jet following her Eras shows in Japan, to witness her boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs win their second straight Super Bowl and third in five years, scoring a touchdown late in a nailbiting extra period to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.
Taylor Swift is here with Ice Spice and Blake Lively! #SBLVIIIpic.twitter.com/0x4XIDRupW
— NFL (@NFL) February 11, 2024
Leonardo DiCaprio at Super Bowl LVIII.@Nickelodeonpic.twitter.com/9FKTSdF59a
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 12, 2024
Jeff Goldblum looks like a fan who’s on the big screen for the first time in his life😂 pic.twitter.com/Mjqk2zneo6
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) February 12, 2024
Usher roller skate sliding through this guys legs was pretty good not gonna lie pic.twitter.com/y1mtD5TcxS
— Jack (@Jac5Connor) February 12, 2024
Swift gave a subtle sartorial nod to her Australian fans on the eve of her Melbourne and Sydney shows by wearing a $650 crochet corset by Australian designer Dion Lee.
Proving her consumer power, Google searches for the label increased by 100 per cent from 3pm AEDT, and the black sleeveless blouse had sold out in four sizes before the game ended.
Swift arrived at the stadium two hours before the kick-off with best friends stylist Ashley Avignone and Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, who was wearing a $9000 Adidas x Balenciaga tracksuit in Chiefs red.
Swift also had Ice Spice in tow. The duo teamed up last year, with the rapper contributing a new verse to a reworked version of Swift’s Midnights track, Karma.
She was then joined in a private box by Kelce’s mother and brother, Jason, as well as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and gleefully downed a plastic cup of white wine in one gulp which was shown on the big screen to boos from the majority of San Francisco 49ers fans.
Grammy-nominated musician Lana Del Rey – another collaborator of Swift’s, on the Midnights cut Snow On The Beach – was snapped singing along to Reba McEntire’s performance of the national anthem.
The pre-show entertainment included a folk version of America the Beautiful by Post Malone, and another Grammy-nominated singer, Andra Day, performed Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Tech giant and X owner Elon Musk held court in a corporate box. So too did Apple boss Tim Cook and singer Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey.
Leonardo DiCaprio opted to go incognito among the 75,000 strong crowd, hiding his face under a baseball cap.
Kim Kardashian was also unusually low-key, arriving only in time to watch the halftime show that was headlined by R&B star Usher.
Taylor Swift is here with Ice Spice and Blake Lively! #SBLVIIIpic.twitter.com/0x4XIDRupW
— NFL (@NFL) February 11, 2024
The 45-year-old Confessions singer dazzled the millions of viewers and live stadium with a 15-minute set (three minutes longer than prior mini concerts) adorned in sequins and, at one stage, on rollerskates, with his back catalogue of 2000s hits including Yeah, Bad Girls and his sappy My Boo duet with Alicia Keys.
It was a show that delighted even the most hardened millennials who danced to Usher’s hits during their formative years, but it also charmed the kids who turned in to watch the NFL’s special children’s broadcast – which included the NFL rules being described by Dora the Explorer and Chiefs tight end Kelce being described as “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend: Good at football”.
US President Joe Biden, trying his best to prove his facilities are still intact, goaded Republicans and influential right-wing conspiracy theorists who believe that Swift and Kelce are “election psyops” who are being used by the Pentagon to manipulate voters to support Mr Biden, and who claim the game was rigged to favour the Chiefs.
Mr Biden had a one-sentence reaction to the suspense-fuelled match. “Just like we drew it up,” he posted, along with a photo of “Dark Brandon” – a meme that was used to previously mock the President but is now being used by Democrats as a sign of virtual support for Mr Biden.
