The never-ending frustration of Taylor Swift’s wedding weekend

As a Gen Z girl with a sensitive streak, I grew up cradled by Taylor Swift’s music. “Fearless” and “Sparks Fly” saw me through my first crushes and early relationships; “Dear John” and “All Too Well” through their inevitable demises. As with many other original members of the fandom, my admiration for Swift trickled away as she strayed from her roots into the more commercially viable realm of pop. (I will note, to prevent being hanged in the town square, that I still adore Reputation, and that I consider folklore to be Swift’s magnum opus.) It is less the influx of department-store music that troubled some fans than the sense that Swift had flung aside her roots—and her politics—for the safety of A++-level stardom. The culmination of that shift seems to be occurring today, as Swift is set to marry football player Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden. 

Much hand-wringing has already been made of Swift’s decision to host her nuptials at one of America’s largest entertainment venues—and in midtown Manhattan, at that. An NYPD memo obtained by the New York Times this week titled “Taylor Swift wedding at Madison Square Garden” revealed that hundreds of police officers will be diverted to patrol the area around the arena for the two-day event. The 100-person rehearsal dinner at the Garden’s Infosys Theater last night is to be followed by a thousand-person celebration today, complete with potential stage appearances. “A wedding and reception in the arena” will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday. Swift is also attempting to close West 31st and 33rd streets, which border the Garden, on Friday. Though Swift will pay for the permits, New York residents will likely foot the bill for increased police presence in the area. Officers and locals alike have complained that Swift’s escapade will force officials to stand outside in sweltering temperatures—the city’s highest in a decade—to keep guests and fans safe. Officers have already been ordered to work enormous amounts of overtime for the NBA Finals, the World Cup, and the America 250 celebrations. 

The festivities are rumored to be as gaudy as one would expect. Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw are expected to perform; at one point, a claim that Swift was building a “fairytale castle” in the venue drew ridicule. (This is, apparently, untrue, though the venue has been “transformed” with grass, canopies, and more.) The wedding’s guests have been given no details, told to stand by like army operatives awaiting further instruction. Pounds upon pounds of lobster, French fries, onion rings, and chicken have been wheeled into the venue. A Krispy Kreme truck was seen on site. Also, a giant bag marked “golf.” According to Forbes, on the low end, Swift’s and Kelce’s wedding will cost $20 million.

There is speculation that Swift and Kelce are either marrying elsewhere or already married, and that the MSG brouhaha serves as a distraction to keep hungry fans from the real moment. But whether or not Swift is actually marrying at the Garden tonight, her willingness to shut down the city—and to have us watch raptly as she does so—proves that she is woefully out of touch. I don’t mean to paint her and Kelce as total Mr. Burnses: they are, to their immense credit, donating $26 million to charities, including a number of New York-based ones: New York Cares, After-School All-Stars, and NYU Langone’s Children’s Hospital, to name a few. They’re donating to the ASPCA, Feeding America, and several Kansas City charities as well (Kelce plays for the Kansas City Chiefs). The gesture is undeniably noble, but to request privacy and exclusive access to one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods while inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers—many of whom will be in the city during a dangerously hot holiday weekend—is obscene. As James Hibberd pointed out, Swift’s entire brand has been a fairytale in the making. That its culmination is meant to be a secret, and that it turns out to be such a mess, is genuinely disappointing. The city rightfully derided one public figure for messing up Midtown to satisfy his own hubris this summer. Why should our treatment of Swift be much different?

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