Why was Taylor Swift booed at the Super Bowl?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — There was no on-field celebration for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce after this Super Bowl. Only consolation far away from the prying TV cameras.

The pop superstar turned up at the big game for the second consecutive year as her boyfriend and the Kansas City Chiefs tried to make history by winning a third consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Instead, Swift found herself booed by a pro-Eagles crowd and then had to endure their countless cheers as Philadelphia rolled to a 40-22 victory at the Superdome.

Last year, Swift and Kelce locked lips on the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as red and gold confetti fell like rain after the Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl — the duo's first since becoming a sports-and-music power couple.

That was a celebratory affair for Swift all night: She won a beer-chugging contest to raucous cheers from the pro-Chiefs crowd, and she spent the game partying with celebrity friends including Blake Lively and Lana Del Rey.

Yet much has changed over the past 12 months. Many sports fans have turned against Swift, whom they believe gets far too much television time during NFL games. And even more fans have turned against the Chiefs, who have replaced the Patriots of Tom Brady as the juggernaut that NFL fans love to hate.

So it wasn't surprising that Swift — who grew up near Philadelphia but now roots for Kansas City — was booed when shown on the videoboards alongside rapper Ice Spice during a break in the first quarter Sunday night. She gave a bit of a side-eye look and wrinkled her nose when she realized the boos were for her.

By the second half, and with the Eagles in control, the cameras were staying away from her entirely, and after the game, President Donald Trump took a dig at Swift, who endorsed Kamala Harris in last year's election.

“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” Trump posted on social media. “She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!”

Swift and Kelce became a couple early last season, when the four-time All-Pro tight end invited the songstress to watch him play in a game against the Bears. Kelce had famously tried and failed to deliver a friendship bracelet to Swift when she had played at Arrowhead Stadium, but she took him up on the offer to attend a game and their relationship blossomed.

Perhaps being shut out at the Grammy Awards last week was a harbinger of a long, difficult night. In 2024, she had won album of the year for her 14th career Grammy a week before joining Kelce for their on-field Super Bowl celebration.

That week was arguably peak Taylor and Travis, not that their stardom has dimmed since. In 2024, after the Grammys, she was in the midst of her Eras Tour and had played a concert in Tokyo before making a mad dash to Las Vegas for the game.

This year she eased into the Big Easy, arriving in time to join Kelce on a double date with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, on Friday night. The couples dined at Lilette, a French restaurant near the Garden District.

On the eve of the big game, Swift was spotted with musicians Danielle and Alana Haim at Gianna Restaurant.

The big question swirling early Sunday was what might happen if Kelce won a third straight Super Bowl ring and fourth overall. Would he pick such a festive moment to propose? BetMGM Sportsbook gave 8/1 odds for those willing to wager on it.

That possibility was snuffed out well before the game was over.

The Chiefs fell to 19-4 with Swift in the crowd, and Sunday was the first time she saw them lose in the playoffs.

“We haven’t played that bad all year. You don’t lose like that without everything going bad,” Kelce said.

Now, the question is whether the 35-year-old Kelce — who made himself scarce in the postgame locker room — will be back for another Super Bowl run. He has been noncommittal about playing next year, and some within the Chiefs organization are bracing for a potential retirement after a record-setting career that will almost certainly land him in the Hall of Fame.

Kelce has been laying the groundwork for his post-playing career for years. He has a lucrative podcast with his brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, and has hosted game shows and even tried his hand at acting this past offseason.

“I’ll let Travis make that decision on his own,” said Mahomes, his closest buddy on the team. “He knows he still has a lot of football left in him. I mean, you can see it. He always makes plays in the biggest moment, but it’s if he wants to put in that grind, because it takes it takes it to go out there and play 20 games, whatever it is, and get to the Super Bowl.

“He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy and first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Mahomes added, “but I know he still has love for the game, and he’ll get to spend some time with his family and make that decision on his own.”

Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

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Ice Spice, from left, Taylor Swift, Este Haim, Alana Haim and Ashley Avignone, back center, watch during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ice Spice, from left, Taylor Swift, Este Haim and Alana Haim watch during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ice Spice, from left, Taylor Swift, Este Haim and Alana Haim watch during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ice Spice, from left, Taylor Swift, Este Haim and Alana Haim watch during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Kansas City Chiefs fan Rose Loftus, 9, from Dallas, ties her hair while wearing a Taylor Swift friendship bracelet outside of St. Louis Cathedral before the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A person wearing a Taylor Swift shirt walks in the French Quarter before the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A person wearing a Taylor Swift shirt walks in the French Quarter before the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.

In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.

Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.

American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”

Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.

“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”

Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.

In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”

Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.

Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”

The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.

One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.

Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)