Taylor Swift was the odds-on Vegas favorite to headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show. But after the NFL chose Bad Bunny, an unverified report circulated claiming that Swift had passed on the opportunity because the league refused her request to own the halftime footage.
Swift addressed the report during an appearance on The Tonight Show Monday night, flatly denying its veracity. “Jay-Z [who curated the halftime show] has always been very good to me — our [business] teams are really close. They sometimes will call and say, ‘How does she feel about…And that’s not, like, an official offer or a conference-room conversation, more ‘How does she feel about it in general?’”
“And we’re always able to tell him the truth: which is that I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field,” Swift continued. “Like, [football] is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. I am, [for] the whole season, 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 wonder what my choreo should be? I think we should do two verses of “Shake It Up,” into “Blank Space,” into “Cruel Summer,” that would be great!’
“This has nothing to do with Travis — he would love for me to do it. But I’m just too locked in,” Swift added.
Elsewhere during her appearance on The Tonight Show, Swift discussed her proposal to Travis Kelce, Selena Gomez’s wedding, her music video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” her love of One Battle After Another, and more. She also broke down several lyrics to her new album The Life of a Showgirl.
.@taylorswift13 addresses rumors that she turned down the Super Bowl Halftime Show 👀 #TaylorOnFallon #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/ZPFIpozZ1J
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) October 7, 2025
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