Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, where she took in the US Open Men’s Final while simultaneously quelling rumors that she and fellow WAG Brittany Mahomes are on the outs.
Swift and her football beau, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, arrived hand-in-hand to their box shortly before the start of the final. The Mahomes—Brittany and husband Patrick, the Chiefs’ quarterback—rolled up a little later.
Swift and Mahomes were all smiles as they were photographed greeting each other with a hug, contradicting speculation about a brewing feud kickstarted by reports that the pair took in the Chiefs’ season opener against the Baltimore Ravens from separate suites on Thursday. The Chiefs beat Baltimore, 27-20.
The two are usually inseparable inside (and increasingly outside) Arrowhead Stadium, and fans were quick to read into their newfound distance, connecting it to the minor online ruckus Mahomes caused late last month when she liked one of Donald Trump’s Instagram posts.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, as well as Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, attend the US Open men’s singles final between Taylor Fritz of the United States and Jannik Sinner of Italy.
Al Bello/Getty Images
The Aug. 13 post listed Trump’s campaign promises, including “Keep men OUT of women’s sports” and “Cut federal funding for any school pushing Critical Race Theory, Radical Gender Ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”
Mahomes has since removed the like, preserved for posterity in screenshots, and was not following Trump as of Sunday. But she appeared to brush off broader accusations about her political leanings, posting on her Instagram Story that to “be a hater as an adult, you have to have some deep rooted issues you refuse to heal from childhood.”
Trump himself even swooped in, thanking “beautiful Brittany Mahomes for so strongly defending” him in a Wednesday tweet.
Predictably, not a peep came from Swift’s camp on the matter. Though historically reluctant to vocalize her politics, the 34-year-old pop star seemed to turn over a new leaf in 2018, when she endorsed two Democratic candidates in the midterm elections in her home state of Tennessee.
In 2020, when her documentary Miss Americana was released, it featured a scene in which Swift expresses tearful regret about not having helped Hillary Clinton to defeat Trump in 2016. Later that year, she criticized Trump and, separately, endorsed Joe Biden for president.
Swift has not endorsed a candidate in the 2024 presidential election—though the right-wing conspiracy theories surrounding her role in the race are a lot weirder this time around.
Then last week, Swift popped up in Kelce’s box at Arrowhead Stadium, joined by his parents, Ed and Donna. Brittany Mahomes’ notable absence was later explained by TMZ, which reported that she’d watched the game from a different box reserved for her husband’s friends and family.
A source close to both women told The U.S. Sun that there was no truth to Mahomes’ seeming banishment, however.
“They are very good friends and they were so excited to go to the game, but they had different plans as it happens sometimes,” the insider said, insisting there was “zero tension” between the women.
“Brittany is a family woman, and Taylor likes to enjoy the game sometimes like it’s a party,” they continued, adding that they hung out both before and after the game.
“But Brittany preferred for the first game of the season to be in a suite with family and the kid, in a bit more of a ‘low key’ vibe.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce embrace during the 2024 US Open Tennis Championships in New York City.
Jackson Lee/Gotham/GC Images via Getty Images
The insider’s claims are backed up by post-game posts to Mahomes’ Instagram Story, showing her on the field with her husband and one of their two children, 3-year-old Sterling. What’s more, Mahomes—who is pregnant again—skipped the “intimate” after-party at a Kansas City cocktail bar attended by her husband, Kelce, and Swift, who got “a little drunky” at the bash, per Page Six.
Swift, who is on hiatus from her Eras Tour until next month, spent the weekend in New York City, where she was papped alongside Kelce, dining out at a pizza restaurant and attending model Karen Elson’s wedding.
The couple were in high spirits at the U.S. Open, according to The Athletic, which reported they danced and sang along to The Darkness’ ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ as Swift sipped on a Honey Deuce and cuddled up to Kelce.
It was not immediately clear on Sunday night whether Swift and Mahomes hung out after Italy’s Jannik Sinner trounced the U.S.’ Taylor Fritz in the final. But fans and other interested parties won’t have long to wait for more evidence of the state of their relationship; the Chiefs’ next game is only a week away.
