President Joe Biden couldn’t keep his blonde pop stars straight at the White House’s annual turkey pardon ceremony.
While in the middle of pardoning turkeys Liberty and Bell on Monday, November 20, Biden, 81, seemingly mixed up Taylor Swift and Britney Spears in his speech. While addressing the crowd, he attempted to crack a joke about how exclusive it was for the birds to receive the special honor, which spares the birds from becoming someone’s holiday dinner.
“Just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some tough odds and competition. They had to work hard, to show patience and be willing to travel over 1,000 miles,” he said in his speech, per NBC News. “You could say it’s even harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or Britney’s tour … She’s down in — it’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.”
While Biden ultimately goofed and said Spears’ name, he was referencing both Beyoncé and Swift’s record-breaking tours. Swift, 33, is currently on the South American leg of her Eras Tour, which kicked off earlier this month.
Swift first stopped in Argentina where boyfriend Travis Kelce traveled to watch her perform during the Kansas City Chiefs’ bye week. While in Buenos Aires, the pop star rescheduled one of her shows — which is a rare occurrence for the singer — due to a “chaotic” rain storm.
The following week, Swift made her way down to Brazil and was faced with another unprecedented weather moment as Brazil was facing a major heatwave. During the Rio de Janeiro show, Swift could be seen handing out water bottles to fans from the stage via social media concert footage. Following the show, Swift revealed that 23-year old fan Ana Clara Benevides Machado died prior to the Grammy winner taking the stage. Swift released a statement following the show expressing her grief. (Machado’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.)
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” she wrote via her Instagram Story at the time. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this.”
Swift stated she was not going to address Machado’s passing on stage because she felt “overwhelmed by grief” whenever she tried to talk about it.
“I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends,” she continued. “This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
The following day, Swift announced her Saturday, November 18, concert was postponed due to the extreme weather conditions. Brazilian concert promoter Time For Fun noted in a statement via Instagram that Saturday’s concert would be rescheduled for Monday, November 20.
“The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performances and crew has to and always will come first,” Swift wrote via her Instagram Story at the time.
After rescheduling the show, Swift took the stage in Brazil again on Sunday, November 19. During the concert, she seemingly paid tribute to Machado by performing her emotional ballad “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” from her 2022 album Midnights.
