Taylor Swift may have worn a glittering green gown by Gucci, but she found herself in a golden era Sunday, if only for a few hours, and what a time it was.
The superstar singer touched down at the Beverly Hilton for the 81st Golden Globes to honor a nomination in the new cinematic and box office achievement category for reinventing the rollout of concert documentaries (and smashing records in the process) courtesy of AMC’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. Though she went home empty-handed — the inaugural trophy went to Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie and the pink parade from Barbie, which earned north of a billion dollars and became a cultural phenomenon — Swift snagged the lion’s share of attention in a room filled with A-listers. (AMC also used the occasion to announce that the doc passed Michael Jackson’s This Is It to become the top-grossing concert doc of all time.)
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In the days leading up to the show, the rumor mill hit overdrive amid questions about if and when Swift would show up, and who might be on her arm. Swift’s NFL beau, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, happened to be in Los Angeles on Sunday for his team’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Fittingly, the game ended in nail-biting fashion with the Chiefs besting the home team 13-12. Not long after the victory, Swift allowed the crush of media and photographers to exhale by arriving arm-in-arm with an entourage that included close friend Keleigh Teller (wife of pal Miles Teller), publicist Tree Paine and a slew of bodyguards but no Kelce. (She also quickly made it on many best-dressed lists, including this one from The Hollywood Reporter.)
By showtime on CBS and Paramount+, Swift made it to her table where she took a seat next to Teller and Searchlight Pictures presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield. For the expert marketer and queen of dropping clues for her global fan base, the decision to take a seat next to top execs from Searchlight (a company that won a top prize for Poor Things) can be taken as a sign of how serious she is about her Hollywood ambitions. As announced in December 2022, Swift partnered with Searchlight to make her feature directorial debut for the studio on an original project based on her own script.
She should have no casting issues as Swift has many actor pals, evidenced by how she worked the room Sunday. Swift shared a moment that included selfies and a warm embrace with Golden Globe nominee and Barry star Bill Hader. At another point, she was photographed chatting with Priscilla nominee Cailee Spaeny.
Though she didn’t make it to the stage, Swift’s name was mentioned from the microphone by Jo Koy. The host said, “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.” The camera cut to Swift, whose only response, aside from remaining stone-faced, was a casual sip of Moët & Chandon.
At other points, she was more enthusiastic. Swift, long an energetic cheerleader and lively guest at award shows from the Grammys to the MTV Awards (not to mention multiple Golden Globe appearances), displayed some of that passion throughout the evening. Like when Poor Things star Emma Stone won for best actress in a comedy or musical, Swift jumped from her seat, threw up her hands and cheered alongside Teller.
When Barbie triumphed in Swift’s category, she was among the first to offer a standing ovation in a moment captured by Ramin Setoodeh, Variety’s co-editor-in-chief.
“OK, yep,” Swift was captured saying when The Bear winner Ayo Edebiri thanked “all of my agents and managers’ assistants.”
The top viral moment of the night came thanks to a conspiracy theory of sorts. Longtime close friend Selena Gomez — nominated for work opposite Martin Short and Steve Martin on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building — made a pit stop at Swift’s table. An animated conversation ensued, clips of which have been posted on X (formerly Twitter), where eagle-eyed fans circulated theories about what was said. Some claim that Gomez relayed a story about asking Timothée Chalamet for a photo but the request was denied by the Wonka star’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.
Days later, Gomez confirmed the rumors of their conversation were false. “Noooooo I told Taylor about two of my friends who hooked up,” she wrote in the comments of one of E! News’s Instagram posts. “Not that that’s anyone business.”
While it’s unclear what really happened, by most accounts Swift had a golden time at Sunday’s show. THR learned that the rest of her weekend went pretty well, too. On Saturday night, Swift hit up Beverly Hills staple Spago for a “chill, girl’s night” with new pals Brittany Mahomes (wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes) and Lyndsay Bell (wife of tight end Blake Bell). A source close to the restaurant said that the trio started off their dinner in a private room but later moved to a main patio dining area closer to the front. “Relaxed” is how the source described the dinner, which included the Stone Axe Farm’s Wagyu ($168), fries and lychee martinis to drink (for everyone except Bell, who is expecting).
By midnight, there have yet to be any sightings or source reports from Swift’s post-Globes activities. There were a smattering of parties around the city — Billboard hosted the official afterparty at the Hilton, Universal celebrated Oppenheimer at Tommy’s Beverly Hills, Netflix took over Spago and UTA toasted Barbie and Succession at La Dolce Vita — but nobody would fault Swift for calling it a night and telling Hollywood revelers, “you’re on your own, kid.”
Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.
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