It seemed impossible to top the star power at Friday’s Taylor Swift show at Wembley Stadium, but that was before Tom Cruise—Mr. Impossible, himself—showed up on Saturday at the second London stop in the billionaire singer’s Eras Tour. And Cruise wasn’t the only big name at Saturday’s Swift show, as Hugh Grant, Princess Olivia of Greece, Greta Gerwig, and a number of other stars packed the stadium’s VIP area as Swift sang—and threw shade—from the stage.
Cruise has reportedly lived in London since 2021, making his presence at this show (as opposed to one in, say, LA or New York) less brow-raising than it might otherwise be. And yet, it still feels surprising (did you know he was a Swiftie? I sure didn’t!) that he was there, and that he arrived—as numerous users of social media noted—with a Swift fans’ now-familiar handful of DIY friendship bracelets that he traded with his fellow VIPers. Did Tom Cruise make his own friendship bracelets for this thing? Wouldn’t it be wild if he did? (Vanity Fair reached out to a Cruise representative for more information on his Swift interest, but has not received a response as of publication time.)
Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on June 22, 2024, in London, England, UK. KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES
The 61-year-old star was seemingly good-natured even when a huge man in the tent grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him about, as was captured in footage shared by fans. It helps, perhaps, that the big guy was Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is also known as Swift’s boyfriend and/or the guy the royal family didn’t want a selfie with the night before.
Actor Hugh Grant, who was also at Saturday’s show, was similarly struck by Kelce’s size and charm. Via X (formerly Twitter), the 63-year-old Grant wrote of his Saturday night concert experience, “Dear @taylorswift13, You have an incredible show, an amazing and v hospitable team and excellent if gigantic boyfriend (#tequilashots.). Thanks so much from one ageing London boy, wife and thrilled 8 year old #halfgirlhalfbracelet.” It’s a tweet that leaves this correspondent wondering what seemed less likely likely a decade ago: the star of Eyes Wide Shut playing with beaded bracelets, or the star of Four Weddings and a Funeral using hashtags?
Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on June 22, 2024, in London, England, UK. KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES
Other luminaries at the show included Barbie director Greta Gerwig, who danced shoulder-to-shoulder with Cruise and Kelce; Danny Masterson apologists Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher; and YA dystopia poster boys Liam Hemsworth and Theo James, among many others.
But the drama wasn’t just in the VIP tent, as Swift went a bit off script to celebrate the crowd, as well as slam her enemies, footage posted to social media shows. As she transitioned into the acoustic portion of her set, Swift said, “I was thinking about getting to play Wembley Stadium. That’s not remotely normal [and] it is so insane for you to [have] done that for me … and for my crew because we get to play Wembley Stadium eight times this summer,” she said, a reference to the Era Tour’s return to England in August.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on June 22, 2024, in London, England, UK. KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES
“You clearly thought this was a good idea [and] you wanted this to happen. Blows me away. I’ll spend forever trying to thank you for that.”
“On the other hand,” Swift continued, “it really makes me think about how every time someone talks shit, it just makes me work even harder and it makes me even tougher. So, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people.” Swift then launched into “thanK you aIMee,” a song from The Tortured Poets Department widely believed to be a dig at Kim Kardashian, a Swift nemesis since 2006.
