Bill Maher Compares Taylor Swift’s Exes To Travis Kelce In Blunt ‘Real Time’ Monologue
Where to Stream:
Real Time With Bill Maher
Powered by Reelgood
Bill Maher zeroed in on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce during Friday night’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, using the couple as a punchline-heavy case study while riffing on modern dating and masculinity.
Earlier in the show during his opening monologue, Maher also weighed in on the backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance, arguing the outrage was largely performative — particularly among supporters of Donald Trump. The host mocked complaints about the set being in Spanish and “overtly sexual,” quipping, “They hated it because it was in Spanish, but now they’re pretending to hate because it was ‘smutty.’”
Maher went on to defend the spectacle more broadly, brushing off criticism about not understanding the lyrics and joking that he approached the show “like Olympic curling,” adding, “I had no idea what the f**k was happening, but I was like, ‘Everyone is looking like they’re having fun. F**k it, I’m in.” His comments came as some Republican lawmakers — including Andy Ogles and Mark Alford — blasted the performance, while Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jim McGovern, and Gavin Newsom praised it as a cultural celebration.
During the February 13 broadcast, the host launched into a bit about Americans having less sex before pivoting to Swift’s romantic history — and how her relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs star fits into it.
“Hear me out, I think Taylor Swift epitomizes the journey that a lot of women have been going through,” Maher said. “Yes, women wanted men to be more sensitive — sensitive, but not some noodle-bodied human turtleneck who wears the same clothes they do.”
He didn’t stop there.
“Taylor Swift went from writing songs about what a d*** this guy was to her, and what a d*** this guy was to her, to what a d*** this guy has. She dated a procession of skinny… gay-adjacent, meek porcelain doll, shy guy, twink-like, tortured poet metrosexuals in America and Europe. But that second she got some old school wood from the Heartland, it was game over.”
The joke drew loud applause from the studio audience, prompting Maher to button the bit with a final line: “So welcome home, Taylor.”
Swift and Kelce began dating in summer 2023 and announced their engagement in August 2025. The singer later offered a glimpse into their relationship in her Disney+ docuseries Taylor Swift: The End of an Era, released in December.
Real Time With Bill Maher airs Fridays at 10/9c on HBO.
