Taylor Swift Addresses Rumors She Declined The Super Bowl

Taylor Swift is finally revealing the truth about why she has never taken on one of pop culture’s biggest stages. Earlier this year, Swift was heavily rumored to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show, but the NFL instead announced Bad Bunny as the 2026 performer. There was speculation that Swift turned down an offer to do the show, but now, the pop star is lifting the curtain on what really happened.

Swift cleared up what her relationship to the Super Bowl looks like during her Oct. 6 appearance on The Tonight Show. Host Jimmy Fallon brought up a report that claimed the pop star turned down the 2026 Halftime Show because the NFL wouldn’t give her ownership over the footage. But Swift responded that she’s only had unofficial discussions about doing the Super Bowl.

“Jay-Z has always been very good to me,” Swift said. “Our teams are very close — they sometimes will call and be like, ‘How does she feel about...’ And that’s not like an official offer or like a conference room conversation.”

Swift said that she isn’t interested in a Super Bowl performance at the moment due to her relationship with Travis Kelce.

“We’re always able to tell him the truth, which is like, I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field,” Swift said. “That’s violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season I’m locked in on what that man is doing on the field. Can you imagine if he’s out there every single week putting his life on the line doing this very dangerous, very high pressure, high intensity sport, and I’m like, ‘I’m wondering what my choreo should be. I think we should do two verses of ‘Shake It Off’ into ‘Blank Space’ into ‘Cruel Summer’, would be great.’ And this has nothing to do with Travis, he would love for me to do it. I’m just too locked in.”