It was a good night for Philadelphia fans who were watching the Super Bowl on the 2025 TV schedule, as they made easy work of the Kansas City Chiefs, but not everybody had such a fun time. Kansas City, for one, was probably a sad city, and I’d imagine Drake probably wasn’t too thrilled with Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. And while Taylor Swift surely hoped for a different outcome to the NFL’s biggest game of the season, she certainly didn’t expect the icy reception she got from the New Orleans crowd.
Taylor Swift was seen mouthing, “What is going on?” as the crowd in attendance at the Super Bowl booed loudly when she was shown on the big screen, and I’m kind of asking the same question. First, take a look at the video shared to X (Twitter):
Taylor Swift got showed on the big screen and got booed aggressively.She asks: “What’s going on?”pic.twitter.com/1CSLjNanmKFebruary 9, 2025
Taylor Swift, sitting next to Ice Spice, looks caught off-guard with the raucously negative reaction to her appearance, and I understand her confusion. Think about it — it was less than six months ago that she took the stage in that very Superdome and played three sold-out shows. She was even mobbed by fans at a restaurant in the days leading up to the game. Don’t tell me there aren’t beaucoup Swifties in New Orleans.
You could tell by the cheers from the crowd that the majority of those in attendance at Super Bowl LIX were Philly fans, and Taylor Swift grew up in Pennsylvania cheering for the Birds. She even references the football team in her song “Gold Rush,”singing:
I see me padding across your wooden floors, with my Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door.
Were the boos simply a reflection of fans’ displeasure that her relationship with Travis Kelce caused her to defect? That’s certainly possible, and personally I think that would be the most reasonable cause.
Another theory? We also know about all the “dads, Brads and Chads” who took issue with how often Taylor Swift was shown on television broadcasts last season, and I think it’s likely the booing may have been a reaction to that.
However, let’s be real: the Midnights artist was rarely shown during games this season, and when she was, it was only after Travis Kelce did something good, so there’s a bit of frequency bias happening with those who are still salty over it. Yes, the NFL overdid it on the Taylor coverage in the beginning, but they have course-corrected, and It’s time to move on from that.
It would also be impossible to ignore that President Trump was in the building, and he received a much warmer reception from the crowd (many of whom surely reside in conservative-minded Louisiana). I’m wondering if that also might have played into Taylor Swift getting the opposite treatment since let’s just say the two of them don’t see eye to eye.
Taylor Swift is no stranger to critics, but whatever reasons the Super Bowl crowd had for trolling her so viciously when she appeared on the screen, it’s obvious she wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction.