Hugh Grant, Travis Kelce shot tequila at a Taylor Swift show - Los Angeles Times
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Hugh Grant recalls getting ‘smashed’ with Travis Kelce at a Taylor Swift concert

Hugh Grant, seated with one hand up around shoulder-height, smiles away from the camera in a dark blue button-up shirt
Hugh Grant in June attended one of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium.
(Matthew Lloyd / For The Times)
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While Hugh Grant’s daughter may be the bigger Swiftie between them, the actor still relished their moment together on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

The “Notting Hill” star attended the second of eight shows Swift played at London’s Wembley Stadium over the summer — joining fellow actors Rachel Zegler and Tom Cruise in June in one of the rowdier VIP tents on the tour. (Prince William made an appearance the night prior.)

Grant — who leads the upcoming A24 horror film “Heretic” — initially reached out to the “Fortnight” singer’s team because his daughter is “mad about Taylor Swift,” he told NME in an interview published Tuesday.

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“I put out some feelers, and to my astonishment, they said, ‘Yeah, come along,’ ” he said.

The actor, once known for romantic comedies, has taken on darker roles of late — including as a potentially dangerous version of himself in HBO’s “The Undoing.”

Nov. 27, 2020

While his daughter and her friend were “bopping away” to every song, Grant said, he buddied up with Swift’s boyfriend, NFL tight end Travis Kelce. Along with a few others Grant presumed to be rappers, they took shots of tequila and got “absolutely smashed.”

“Dear @taylorswift13 , You have an incredible show, an amazing and v hospitable team and excellent if gigantic boyfriend,” Grant wrote on X the following day. “Thanks so much from one ageing London boy, wife and thrilled 8 year old.”

To which Swift replied: “As a long time Hugh Grant stan this tweet is very important to my culture.”

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Recalling her “extremely nice” sentiment, Grant told NME that the “Miss Americana” star — with her three-hour, multimillion-dollar production — delivers a “brilliant show.”

Taylor Swift marks the end of the Eras tour with the release of her first book, as well as two new formats for her ‘Tortured Poets Department’ album.

Oct. 15, 2024

Indeed, Swift seems to keep calm even in the face of wardrobe mishaps and stage malfunctions.

During her third and final stop Sunday night in New Orleans, the Grammy winner was in the middle of her song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” when the stage’s reflective silver platform — dubbed the “Tayoomba” — suddenly stopped moving. (The mechanism typically roves around for the duration of the number, with Swift swooping and stomping atop it).

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Swift played it off, dancing and singing her way down the catwalk as her dancers followed. She then performed “Down Bad” — another track from her April album “The Tortured Poets Department” — without the platform for the first time.

Still, the stage malfunction wasn’t the dramatic highlight of Swift’s New Orleans run. During Saturday night’s show, the billionaire hitmaker welcomed former opener Sabrina Carpenter onstage to sing a medley of her twin singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” and Swift’s own “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version).”

In a year crowded with activity by veteran A-listers, a trio of not-quite-newcomers — Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan — are making their mark.

June 25, 2024

After her memorable cameo, Carpenter wrote to Swift on Instagram, “thank you for working late, thank you for being a singer and thank you for having me” — calling her pop mentor’s pulpit the “only stage i’d ever wanna see on a day off.”

Carpenter “had one day off from her very exhaustive tour schedule,” Swift wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “Her show is physically full on and spectacular, and she could’ve been resting in her time off.”

Still, the former Disney Channel star went “out of her way to give fans a surprise moment they didn’t expect. She’s as real as they come and I’m so thankful she did that for us,” Swift said, attaching a photo of the pair onstage.

Swift’s tour continues Nov. 1 in Indianapolis, the last U.S. city on the schedule, and officially concludes in December in Vancouver.

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