Taylor Swift’s budding relationship with Travis Kelce has turned her into a football fanatic, almost guaranteeing her attendance at important Kansas City Chiefs games – but not this Monday.
Despite reports the Eras Tour frontwoman would be cheering her man on from the stands as he faces off against his older brother, Jason, Swift, 33, will be missing the 20 November match. The Chiefs will be playing the Philadelphia Eagles for the first time this season since they went head-to-head during last year’s Super Bowl.
However, the Grammy winner will be staying abroad, as there was a change to her international tour schedule following the extreme heat and the tragic death of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, a fan in the crowd at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Rio De Janeiro on 17 November. The young concert-goer reportedly collapsed inside the open-air facility, before she was taken to the hospital, where she later died of cardiac arrest, her cousin Estela told Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de S Paulo. The “Anti-Hero” vocalist ultimately postponed her Saturday show and rescheduled it for Monday.
In an Instagram post published over the weekend, Swift explained she would be postponing her Saturday night performance for “the safety and well being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew”. Promptly after the pop artist’s social media message, Time For Fun (T4F), an organiser for her shows in Rio, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce the new date for the show – 20 November, the same night Swift was expected to be in Kansas City.
Chris Jones, the Chiefs defensive lineman, had riled sports and Swift enthusiasts up when he dropped the hint that she was supposed to be at the game. Speaking to sports commentator Rich Eise on 16 November, Jones confessed he, Kelce, and Swift were supposed to get together after the match on Monday. What’s more, per an Entertainment Tonight report, Swift’s parents, Andrea and Scott, are supposed to meet Kelce’s parents, Donna and Ed, for the first time at the game, even though the “22” creator won’t be there.
According to Folha de S Paulo, Benevides fainted ahead of the Friday concert before being revived. She was immediately rushed to the hospital where she died hours later.
Swift expressed her sorrow online, telling fans: “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this.”
“I can’t believe that I’m writing these words, but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” she continued. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.
“I’m not going to be able to speak about the from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends.
“This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
On Saturday afternoon, T4F told ticket holders that water stations would be provided at the stadium for the second show that night. Additionally, spectators were told they were allowed to bring in sealed water containers.
Videos surfacing online since Friday night’s concert show Swift pausing her performance a myriad of times, checking on her audience and requesting stadium staffers pass out water bottles to concert-goers.
“There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back. So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?” Swift said at one point.
The Chiefs and the Eagles will face off Monday at Arrowhead Stadium at 8.15pm.
