Culture | Back Story

The meaning of the hysteria over Taylor Swift

It reflects the overlap of politics, conspiracy and celebrity

Taylor Swift wears a jacket with the name of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce
Photograph: AP

As every paid-up conspiracist knows, the NFL was rigged to ease the Kansas City Chiefs into the Super Bowl on February 11th—ensuring the attendance of Taylor Swift, girlfriend of one of the players, or so they say. But why? Not just to lift the TV ratings, surely. No, the scheme is a deep-state “psy-op” to boost Joe Biden’s electoral hopes. Or the real aim is to promote satanism, as online exorcists reckon Ms Swift’s concerts do. In any case, don’t fret about the singer getting from her gig in Tokyo to Las Vegas for kickoff. Elvis is flying her in his UFO.

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Look what she made them do”

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