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Taylor Swift reacts to a Kansas City Chiefs victory.
When global pop music megastar Taylor Swift announced last August that she was engaged to marry Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, speculation immediately began that Swift would perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did his part to feed the rumors at the time, remarking in a nationally televised interview that the league “would always love to have Taylor play. She is a special, special talent, and obviously she would be welcome at any time.”
It didn’t happen. Swift reportedly took herself out of the running, explaining later in an interview on a late-night talk show, “I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field. Like, that is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season, I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field.”
Now, it appears that Swift will not be performing at next year’s Super Bowl show either, whether she wants to or not, according to an insider report. And the reason, according to the longtime insider, is an unexpected one.
Bad Bunny Draws 4th-Highest Viewership Ever
In the end, the Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention and did not play in the Super Bowl. That meant that Kelce was not there, and neither was Swift. Instead, the NFL and Roc Nation — the promotional company run by rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter that contracts with the league to stage Super Bowl halftime performances — chose Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by his stage name Bad Bunny.
Bad Bunny’s show, despite a political controversy surrounding his selection, turned out to be an unqualified success, averaging a reported 124.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures cited by ESPN.
That was slightly down from the previous year when another rap star, Kendrick Lamar, drew 127.7 million. But the Bad Bunny show was nonetheless the fourth-most-watched in Super Bowl history.
But wouldn’t Swift, whose recently ended worldwide “Eras Tour” drew nearly 11 million paying ticket buyers — at prices often ranging from $1,500 to $3,800 per ticket — be next in line to perform at the Super Bowl, and draw almost certain record ratings?
Jay-Z Deems Swift Unacceptably ‘Safe’: Report
The answer to that question, according to the insider report, appears to be “no.”
“Insiders say Jay-Z is thinking bigger, louder, and riskier,” wrote entertainment industry insider Rob Shuter in his Naughty But Nice newsletter on Monday. “Sources tell Naughty But Nice that Jay, who oversees halftime entertainment through Roc Nation, feels fully vindicated after backing a performance some initially doubted.”
After the resounding success of the controversial Bad Bunny performance, the Roc Nation founder “feels empowered,” according to Shuter’s source. “He doesn’t want safe. He wants culture-defining.”
“Taylor equals ratings,” another executive-level music industry source told Shuter. “But Jay isn’t chasing guaranteed anymore. He’s chasing impact.”
According to Shuter’s report, Jay-Z sees the Super Bowl show not as mere entertainment but as a “cultural megaphone” and he wants to “push it further.” Swift does not meet that requirement, according to the insider report.
Another factor, according to Shuter, may be Kelce’s retirement decision. If the future Hall of Famer decides to play another year in the NFL, Shuter reports, citing sources close to Swift, the pop megastar would not want to commit to performing at the Super Bowl because there is a chance Kelce might be on the field.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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