Is Attending The Eras Tour The Perfect PR Move For Famous Men?
Over the weekend, Taylor Swift performed the first three shows of the London leg of her Eras Tour. She filled Wembley Stadium three times over, but notably, the headlines that came out were almost entirely focused on the famous men in attendance.
If you’re anything like me, your cold, dead heart melted and you cracked up seeing the footage of Taylor’s boyfriend Travis Kelce making his onstage debut. Donning a top hat and three-piece-suit, the NFL star smiled from ear to ear and matched his superstar girlfriend’s supreme theatre-kid energy by playing along with the choreographed skit.
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Not only was his cameo completely adorable, but it felt significant for many reasons. Firstly, there’s the fact that this all went down in London (aka ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn’s home). Secondly, this happened during the introduction to Taylor’s 2024 hit, ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’, a song she wrote about resilience and succeeding despite deep sadness.
The moment felt like a triumph. Taylor has finally found a partner who is not only willing to be involved in her batshit-crazy life, but seems to find genuine joy in it. His appearance was brief, not intending to steal focus but to show support for the woman he loves and encourage her to go kill it. She may have proven that she can do it with a broken heart, but now she doesn’t have to.
Taylor took to social media after the shows and gave Travis a shoutout, stating that she was “still cackling/swooning” over his appearance.
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While Travis is far from someone in need of good publicity given we’re all team Swelce, this Eras appearance may be the best move he’s made yet in the public eye. If you had any questions about whether this man was fit to date our Taylor, they’ve been swiftly answered.
Having said that, these London shows have been making me think about some of the other famous men who have attended the tour, and how this infamous three-hour show has a magic ability to paint masculinity in its most flattering light.
Another viral moment coming out of the weekend was the attendance of Prince William. Celebrating his 42nd birthday at Wembley Stadium with eldest kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the heir to the throne was spotted by fans daggy dancing to ‘Shake It Off’ – an image I simply cannot unsee. Naturally, the internet responded.
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“OMG!!! I love seeing it!!!”, “Good lad, proper people’s king this boy,” and “Our future King is literally living his best life watching TayTay,” were among just some of the comments posted on British media outlet The Sun’s Instagram post of the footage.
In addition to the dance moves, the Prince and his kiddies were lucky enough to go backstage and hang out with the woman of the hour.
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“Thank you @taylorswift for a great evening! #LondonTSTheErastour,” the caption read on William and Kate’s official Instagram account. Fans commented their support, particularly seeing the joy it brought the kids during what’s been a tough year for the family.
After his famous falling out with brother Harry, rumours of infidelity and the fact that support of the monarchy has been in decline for years, this is probably the most favourable press I’ve seen of William in recent memory.
Then, there’s Hugh Grant’s drunken tweet on X about his night at the show which has since gone viral.
Image credit: @HackedOffHugh/X
For me, this tweet somehow encapsulates what I perceive as the male Eras experience. The dad energy, the tipsiness, the levity. Considering the Swift fandom is predominantly female or non-male identifying, and the concerts are swarming with excited girlies young and old, I can’t help but find the men (famous or normies) embracing the lightness and genuinely having fun so damn endearing.
Given the tour has been happening for what feels like a decade now, we’ve seen plenty of examples of famous men being viewed through The Eras gaze prior to this London leg.
Channing Tatum rocked a custom bedazzled shirt that read “It’s me, hi, I’m the daddy, it’s me”. Bradley Cooper was caught dancing like an absolute goofball with girlfriend Gigi Hadid. Don’t even try to keep Ryan Reynolds away, he’ll attend with his wife and kids on multiple occasions.
Image credit: Gayle King/Instagram
There was even the short-lived era of Taylor’s ex/smallest man who ever lived, Matty Healy attending the tour. While we were all collectively unsure whether this rockstar was fit to date our pop queen (a gut feeling we should’ve trusted), it was hard to watch footage of Matty at Taylor’s shows and not fall a little bit in love with him falling a little bit in love with her.
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Taylor has created an atmosphere in which hundreds of thousands of her global fans can shake anything off for three hours and celebrate love, friendship and pop music, and even if it’s just optics, it’s nice to think that the men invited into this world are keeping it safe.
The Eras Tour wraps up in December this year, so keep your eyes peeled for plenty more daggy dance moves ahead.
Written by Lil Friedmann, a staunch defender of pop girlies and currently allergic to tortured poets. You can follow her at @lilfriedmann on socials.
Image credit: Getty + Punkee