With Taylor Swift about to hit the road again for her Eras Tour — while keeping fans guessing about the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) — and Travis Kelce headed back to another Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs, these two are the very definition of a power couple. Swift and Kelce’s relationship has even caught the attention of David Letterman, who apparently has a pretty strong opinion about the pop star. Footage of the former late-night host ranting about her critics is recirculating, as he hilariously confused Kelce for Frasier star Kelsey Grammer.
David Letterman and his right-hand man Paul Shaffer did a segment on The Barbara Gaines Show in October 2023, in which the famed Late Show host raved to his former executive producer that we’ve never experienced anything like Taylor Swift in the history of pop culture. He then laid into the people criticizing the singer for supporting her boyfriend at NFL games, but he confused the Kansas City Chief with another famous Kelsey, making for a LOL-worthy clip. Letterman said:
We live in a world now where all we hear is nonsense and ugliness, and the nonsense can’t be more nonsensical, and the ugliness, God hopes it can’t get any uglier, but that’s all we hear. That’s all we hear. So now here’s Taylor Swift, who is a glowing, bright light of goodness in the world, and she starts dating Kelsey Grammer, and people go crazy. And the Kelsey Grammer people say, ‘Oh no no no, don’t bother us, we’re all caught up in football. We don’t want Taylor in football,’ and the Taylor Swift people, the Swifties, are saying, ‘Oh we don’t want a footballer in here with Kelsey Grammer.’
Now, it should be pointed out that Swifties absolutely love Travis Kelce, and some girl dads appreciate Taylor Swift for giving them something to connect with their daughters over. But amidst David Letterman’s diatribe against the pissed-off dads, Brads and Chads, he was clearly confusing the tight end with Cheers star Kelsey Grammer, who is twice the age of Swift and Kelce at 68. At that point in the video, someone corrects the My Next Guest Needs No Introduction host, and he continued his rant, saying:
I say to both camps, this is such a lovely thing, shut up. It’s good for the footballers, it’s good for Taylor Swift, and it’s something positive and happy for the world in a world that generally, typically just sucks gas. … So God bless Taylor Swift and Kelsey Grammer, and that’s all I had to say on Taylor Swift.
Perhaps if we were pronouncing Travis Kelce’s name correctly, David Letterman wouldn’t have so much of an issue, but his heart was in the right place, even if he still couldn’t get that name right. He also set up Paul Shaffer for his own A+ joke, as the musician quipped:
You know who’s great? David Hyde Pierce. I like him too.
David Letterman praised Taylor Swift for her impressive catalog of music that allows her to sell out stadiums worldwide for the three-plus-hour concerts on her Eras Tour, but pointed out that even more than that, people love her as a human being. Paul Shaffer used the huge tips Swift gives her truck drivers as an example of her generosity, and I love that these late-night veterans consider themselves proud Swifties.
