Taylor Swift Reveals Why She’s Not Doing the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Taylor Swift fans thought maybe she would perform the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show, but the coveted gig went to Bad Bunny instead.

Swift appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” and during some extended footage from the episode, chatted about why she’s not doing it.

During a true or false game, Jimmy asked Taylor about a rumor she turned down the opportunity because she wouldn’t be able to own the performance footage. She clarified, "No, no. Here's the thing. Jay-Z has always been really good to me. Our teams are really close."

Of course, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is in charge of the Apple Music halftime show headliner.

She explained that sometimes they will call and ask, “How does she feel about it?” but insisted, “That’s not like an official offer or a conference room conversation.” 

Swift said for her part, she’s not comfortable performing the halftime show while her fiancée Travis Kelce is playing in the NFL.

Taylor said of Jay-Z, "We're always able to tell him the truth, which is that I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that field. Like that is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season, I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field.”

She went on, “Can you imagine if he's out there every single week, putting his life on the line doing this very dangerous, very high-pressure, high-intensity sport, and I'm like, 'I wonder what my choreo should be?'"

Taylor insisted, “And this has nothing to do with Travis. He would love for me to do it. I’m just too locked in.”

During the game, Fallon also asked if it was true that her friend Ed Sheeran learned of her engagement to Travis on Instagram!

This was something Ed had told Andy Cohen ahead of his SiriusXM’s Small Stage series last month.

She confessed, “So true (but) I have a perfect explanation, he doesn’t have a phone.”

Taylor insisted, “So he doesn’t have a phone, and this is like one thing I love about him, it’s very eccentric, love it.”

She recalled, “I’m going through my texts… and he just wasn’t there. You have to email him. If you want to set up a FaceTime, he has to find an iPad. You have to give it to him like he’s a child.”

Swift went on, “This is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet. When the news came out, I was like ‘Oh my God, we forgot to call Ed! Oh no!’”