Reba McEntire is setting the record straight. The country music icon shut down a report claiming she called Taylor Swift “an entitled little brat” after performing the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII.
“Please don’t believe everything you see on the Internet,” McEntire implored to her Instagram followers, sharing a screenshot of a purported story about her on social media. “I did not say this. Taylor is a wonderful artist, strong role model and has done so much good for so many people and the music industry.”
The screenshot is from an account called “America Loves Liberty” and features the following text, “Reba McIntire talks about how disappointed she was to look up at the big screen while performing The National Anthem, only to see Taylor Swift laughing and drinking and making a mockery of the event. ‘I let her have it afterward. She’s an entitled little brat.'”
The post notably misspelled McEntire’s last name, prompting the star’s longtime pal and Reba co-star, Melissa Peterman, to roast the error in a comment.
“They spelled your name McIntire,” she wrote. “So made up story AND a lazy proofreader! 😂”
The 68-year-old The Voice coach delivered a show-stopping version of “The Star Spangled Banner” ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers faceoff last month, more than 50 years after she was discovered while singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. During the Super Bowl telecast on CBS Sports, Swift did not appear to be shown at the time of McEntire’s performance. Swift’s boyfriend — and McEntire’s NFL crush — Travis Kelce was seen on the sidelines, swaying with his hand placed respectfully on his heart.
Swift was shown during the pre-game ceremonies during Post Malone’s rendition of “America the Beautiful,”hugging pal Blake Lively as they gently swayed to the music. The friends burst into a fit of giggles as they unexpectedly spotted themselves in an embrace on the jumbotron.
McEntire is a longtime fan of the Chiefs and, in October, joked that she was “so mad” at Swift for dating the team’s star tight end.
“Oh, my gosh, I am so mad at her because I had a crush on him,” McEntire quipped to Today.com. “Now I can’t have a crush anymore because he’s dating her.”
McEntire doubled down that she’s “so devastated” while referring to the athlete as her “boyfriend that cheated on” her.
In real life, McEntire has been dating actor Rex Linn since 2020 — and he’s well versed in the singer’s affinity for Kelce and his teammate, Patrick Mahomes.
“When he and Taylor started dating, Rex said, ‘Your boyfriend’s got another girlfriend,'” McEntire cracked. “I said, ‘Rub it in.'”
Of course there’s no actual bad blood between McEntire and Swift. The “Fancy” singer was singing Swift’s praises in December 2023 in an interview on NBC’s TikTok.
“The very first time I ever heard Taylor sing live was on the CMA Awards, she was singing ‘Tim McGraw,’ playing the guitar,” McEntire recalled. “I’m like, ‘This girl’s gonna be a huge star.'”
She gushed, “I was impressed.”
