At 7.20pm local time, jumbo screens outside New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG) flashed the news: “JUST&T MARRIED!” and the Empire State Building erupted in light blue sparkles.
Two and a half centuries after the US declared independence from the British crown, hundreds thronged the streets of Manhattan for an American royal wedding. Taylor Swift married Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs American football team in the 20,000-seat arena where the New York Knicks had won the NBA final two weeks earlier.
The pair threw a party that brought midtown Manhattan to a standstill and showed that pure celebrity can out-pull a narcissistic president. Fans had camped out on pavements since Thursday night: 11 streets, including 7th Avenue, were closed by police for nearly three days, despite the tourist crush of the World Cup and the Fourth of July weekend. The model Gigi Hadid and actors Hugh Grant, Bradley Cooper and Ethan Hawke were among the celebrities photographed heading inside. So were crates of flowers and fresh lobsters.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Not everyone was pleased. Author Abby Stein channelled Thomas Jefferson and the idea that all men are created equal. “No one private citizen, no matter how wealthy, famous, and/or popular, should have the power to shut down this much of a city for a private event,” she wrote on X.
Swift and Kelce donated $26m (£19.5m) to charities across the US before the wedding but have not yet said whether they will foot the bill for the increased police presence. Nearly 200 NYPD officers were assigned to patrol the streets, some working 24 to 30-hour shifts.
This kind of gridlock is supposed to be the preserve of presidents, and it seems to have put Donald Trump’s nose out of joint. Trump has made no secret of his antipathy towards Swift, calling her a “woke singer”, “disloyal” and “no longer hot” after she chose to endorse Joe Biden in 2020.
On Thursday, the White House X account posted a meme spoofing Swift’s Eras tour, with images of Trump alongside George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and the slogan: “America’s Eras tour”. Then, moments after the screens outside MSG announced the Swift-Kelce nuptials, the White House posted an edited version reading, bizarrely: “Trump is your president.”
A protestor stands outside Madison Square Garden
Trump hopes to renovate MSG and Penn Station underneath it, and – in characteristic fashion – affix his name to it. Last month, his transportation secretary announced new plans for the beleaguered complex, along with renderings of gilded columns and Trump’s name in giant letters beside the presidential seal. Construction is expected to be completed by late 2027.
But this weekend is Swift’s. Her two-day rental of MSG probably cost upwards of $1.2m before security and production expenses. Yet it offered her one thing that money – almost – cannot buy: control over her narrative.
Photographs of the wedding have not yet been released – guests’ phones were confiscated upon arrival – but, according to Swift’s publicist, the ceremony was officiated by the actor Adam Sandler.
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The singer’s brother, Austin, served as her “man of honour”, while Kelce’s brother, former NFL player Jason Kelce, was his best man.
A spokesperson also revealed that both bride and groom were dressed in Dior. Swift accessorised with shoes by Christian Louboutin and jewellery by Cartier. The choice of French couture for America’s girl next door may come as a surprise – not least on the anniversary of US independence.
Additional reporting by Caitlin Macdonald
Photographs by Ryan Murphy, XNY/Star Max, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, Tom Weller / DPA/ Avalon
Ryan Murphy, XNY/Star Max, and Charles Sykes