This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
I would rather drown myself in a bathtub full of ketchup and seemingly ranch than continue to discuss the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce hysteria.
(A summary of my opinion: The rapt attention the couple receives, as if we’re a nation staring at a UFO hovering above us, wondering what would happen next, is exhausting, bizarre, and—I say this as a person who writes about pop culture for a living—quite embarrassing. Do I think it’s weird that after such a short time, two major stars are being so public? Sure. Is there a reason to wonder if it’s a PR stunt? Maybe. But these are grown people, I hope they are happy and getting some, and it all just seems like none of my business.)
Swift once again attended Kelce’s game this Thursday, which happened to be the day Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film hit theaters. In response, I have commissioned a bunker to spend the weekend in, a haven from the hoopla. DM me if you’d like to join. I will have lots of Cheez-Its and a box set of Diane Keaton DVDs to comfort us through the trauma.
But before I retreat, I wanted to pay homage to the Taylor Swift news that I do endorse, admire, and think deserves a proper amount of fawning: her unprecedented success, the way she owns how empowered it makes her feel, and her refusal to play into the misogynistic narratives in which the media, her industry, and even her fans relentlessly and exasperatingly attempt to cast her.
That is all to say that this Taylor Swift and Beyoncé moment at Swift’s movie premiere this week actually means a lot to me. (And, based on the reaction I’ve seen online, to a lot of other people too.)
Beyoncé posed for photos and social promotions with Swift at the event, a summit viewed as respectively magnanimous acts from two titans. Each released albums that have been at the forefront of music’s discourse over the last year and change. Both launched blockbuster, record-breaking, industry-shifting tours. And both will release films celebrating those epic concert runs in theaters before the end of the year: Swift’s release this weekend was considered so formidable that studios essentially cleared their own films from the schedule so as to not be squashed by it; expect a similar situation when Beyoncé puts out Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé Dec. 1.
Stats like revenue, crowd sizes, and ticket prices for the stars’ respective tours were reported on as if they were poll numbers for dueling politicians in a heated, ugly race. When there was positive news about the wild success of one tour, it wasn’t uncommon for fans of the other artist to jump onto Twitter (or X, ugh) to minimize or refute the accomplishment, while arguing that “their” performer was actually the one winning—whatever “winning” means. The news that both concerts would become major films was, by some, treated as some kind of showdown.
But the fact is that both tours generated billions of dollars for the U.S. economy—an unprecedented, shared accomplishment. The photo of the pair together at Swift’s premiere—and the rumor that they had dinner together prior—was viewed as some sort of monumental truce.
It’s true that just the mere sight of these supernovas together is blindingly thrilling. I revived from my zombie state of late-night social media scrolling and sat up with an excited start when I saw it; you should know just how powerful an image must be to elicit that kind of reaction from me when I’m in that state.
I want to make a comparison of what might be just as exciting—Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie posing together?—but that and every other example I come up with fails, because they all assume animosity. Swift and Beyoncé haven’t historically just been cordial. They’ve been vocal supporters and uplifters of each other’s work and careers.
When it was reported this summer just how much money the Renaissance tour generated, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, celebrated the news by congratulating not just her daughter, but Taylor Swift as well. And in the immediate aftermath of the frenzy over her and Bey’s red carpet photo this week, Swift posted an incredibly sweet Instagram note gushing over the influence and impact Beyoncé’s music and camaraderie has had over her entire life.
Monologuing over a photo of two pop superstars together feels sheepishly fangirl-y and flamboyant. But it is no more ridiculous than the attention these damn football games have gotten, so if I’m forced to be pummeled with that news on what feels like a second-by-second basis, allow me to emerge, bruised and tired, to meagerly coo a little “yay!” over seeing two of my faves being pretty and supportive at the biggest moments of their careers.
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