The Super Bowl LVIII sideshow known as Taylor Swift could have been extra spicy had the singer not flexed her muscles and had a rival booted from the venue.
At least, that’s according to former New York Giants wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
During a Monday episode of I Am Athlete’s “Paper Route” podcast, Marshall claimed to have inside knowledge of an alleged incident between Taylor and rapper Kanye West that played out before kickoff.
Marshall said that West purchased a pair of tickets for him and his wife, Bianca Censori, that were right in front of Swift’s luxury suite, which had been paid for by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
After finding out about West’s plan, Swift allegedly made some phone calls and had West booted from Allegiant Stadium.
“Kanye West pulls up to Vegas. Kanye West buys a ticket right in front of her booth,” Marshall said. “He had a mask on with his logo on the mask — typical Kanye. Taylor Swift gets (expletive) off. She boom boom makes a call or two. Everybody’s involved. He gets kicked out the stadium. He was trying to leverage her celebrity.”
Despite Marshall’s claims that West was kicked out of the stadium, he was seen several times throughout the night.
The Swift-West beef dates back to 2009 when Kanye interrupted her acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the MTA VMA’s, famously telling the audience that it was Beyoncé who deserved the award instead. The feud was reignited in 2016 when West crudely included a lyric about Swift in his song “Famous.”
At the time, West claimed Swift had given her permission to use the lyric, which she later denied. A phone call between the two was leaked, at which point Swift alleged that it was illegally recorded and manipulated.
“Trash takes itself out every single time,” she said at the time.
Neither Swift nor West’s representatives have confirmed or denied Marshall’s claim.