Taylor Swift reportedly turned down the Super Bowl halftime show
According to sources cited by TMZ, Swift is waiting to seize the football throne until after her (Taylor's Version) re-recording project is complete
Despite rumors that she might be tackling a show that’s been referred to as the single largest live performance opportunity in the world, Taylor Swift has reportedly turned down an offer to play the Super Bowl halftime show next year.
This is per TMZ, which had previously reported on those rumors, which centered on a whole bunch of signs and portents that were quickly swept up into the Taylorsphere as possible evidence that she’d be taking on the high-profile gig. (To wrestle with just one: This’ll be the first time in years that Pepsi won’t be sponsoring the show, having ceded that territory to Apple; Swift, of course, did a couple of Coca-Cola commercials like 8 years ago, so…) (Okay, one more: The NFL made the announcement about the change of sponsorship at midnight, and Swift is currently revving up for the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, so…) (It turns out you can spin almost anything into a credible rumor if you end it with so…, so…)
Today, though, TMZ cites “Sources with direct knowledge of the Super Bowl halftime show” that state that Swift was offered the gig, but turned it down. Specifically, it’s being said that Swift—who’s only performed live a handful of times since her Lover tour got shut down by COVID in 2019—doesn’t want to do the show until she’s finished her project of re-recording (Taylor’s Version) of all six of her albums that were recorded with Big Machine Records. (She previously released new versions of Red and Fearless; we’re still waiting on Taylor Swift, 1989, Reputation, and Speak Now.) It’s not clear when that self-imposed restriction will lift, but it definitely won’t be by early 2023; the Swifties will have to wait at least another year, it seems, for their liege to take this particular pop culture throne.