In an interview with Gayle King on CNN, retired NBA star Charles Barkley directly called out football fans hating on Taylor Swift amid her avid support of boyfriend Travis Kelce.
During a chat on the attention Swift has brought to the NFL, especially ahead of Super Bowl LVIII where Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the San Francisco 49ers, Barkley expressed his support for Swift. "If you're screaming at Taylor Swift saying she ruined [the NFL], you're just a loser. You're just a loser or a jackass," he said. "You can be A or B, one of the two."
It's no secret that Swift's support for Kelce, whom she went public with in November last year, has been a huge boost for the NFL. Plenty of Swifties have been tuning in to show love for Kelce this season, especially since Taylor herself has been in attendance at many of his games. It's paying dividends for the league and those involved.
Kristin Juszczyk, wife of San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, recently received a licensing deal with the NFL that allows her to use official logos on her future designs after Swift sported a custom-made puffer jacket at a Chiefs game.
There's been a lot of commentary surrounding 34-year-old Swift's romance with Kelce, also 34, and what it means for the NFL. Shannon Sharpe recently suggested that she's brought a "crazy" amount of attention and no other artist alive is capable of replicating her impact.
"These eight-to-15-year-old eyeballs...Ocho, I love Beyoncé. [But] Beyoncé ain't moving the needle like this chick, Ocho," he told his Nightcap co-host Chad Johnson. "She's the closest thing to moving the needle like Michael Jackson that we've seen. This is it."
Even airlines are getting in on the hype, with both American Airlines and United Airlines offering flights from Kansas City to Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl with flight codes referencing Swift's music.
