Sure, pop megastar Taylor Swift is (probably) dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, in the most paparazzi-filled celebrity merger since Becks and Posh or the golden years of Bennifer.
The singer, among the bestselling artists of all time, has been spotted again and again in the VIP box at Chiefs games, palling around with Kelce’s parents or with Patrick Mahomes’ brother, Jackson.But she swears — swears! — that she’s an Eagles fan.
She was born and raised in Berks County, Pennsylvania, after all. And “Gold Rush,” from the pop star’s album Evermore, even goes as far as to reference her “Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door.”
At a May 2023 show at the Linc in Philly, home of the Eagles, she even made sure to clarify to Philadelphia Swifties that her lyric refers to Eagles the football team, not Eagles the rock supergroup.
“Guys, like, come on. I’m from Philly. Of course, it’s the team,” she said. Cheers ensued.
But Berks County is not Philadelphia. And ahead of a contentious Chiefs-Eagles Superbowl rematch on Monday, Nov. 20, a whole lot of people in Philly aren’t buying the story that she’s rooting for the Eagles.
Which is probably how her music got banned from a Philadelphia radio station.
“Q102 is punting Taylor Swift from the radio station for the entire weekend because while Q102 loves Taylor Swift, we can’t get enough of her, this weekend it’s really important we show our support for the Birds,” said a radio host named Nugget, on CBS News Philadelphia.
CBS quoted one commentator saying to leave Taylor alone. But Birds fan after Birds fan agreed with the station’s temporary decision to ban Swift songs.
“I’m with it,” Iliyas Muhammad told CBS. “If you’re not with the Eagles, you’re not with us. If it’s not about the Eagles, it’s not about nothing, so sorry Taylor you better get with the program or you’re not going to get played in our city.”
The station will return to Tay-Tay programming Tuesday after the game, Nugget said. Probably.
But in the meantime, no greater a Philly icon than Patti LaBelle has told Swift to stay out of Philadelphia during the matchup.
(While Swift is on the South American leg of her Eras tour, some hypothesize that a gap in her schedule might permit her to attend, and Stubhub has said the speculation is fueling stratospheric ticket prices for the already high-stakes game.)
But LaBelle isn’t having any of it.
“Let me say something. Taylor, and all your Swifties, back up boo boo. The [Chiefs] are going down,” said LaBelle on Tamron Hall’s syndicated talk show Friday.
“The Eagles are going to win. I mean it’s a done deal. I love you, Taylor, but stay home.”
Speculation about the Swift family loyalty redoubled after her father, lifetime Eagles fan Scott Swift, was seen wearing a Chiefs lanyard in Rio de Janeiro.
Which all goes to show: If Taylor Swift would indeed like to prove her Eagles bona fides, maybe she should indeed show up to the game on Monday.
But when she does, she should wear that Eagles shirt — you know, the one in the song.
Matthew Korfhage is a reporter for the Delaware Online/The News Journal.
