Taylor Swift delivered when it came to the record-breaking opening date of her "reputation Stadium Tour" on Tuesday night (May 8), where she spent two hours working her way through her latest album and some of her massive hits. However, one of the biggest headlines to come from the concert happened mid-set when she spoke with the 59,157 fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium about the symbolism behind her snake tour decor and alluded to the never-ending feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
"You might be wondering why there are so many snakes everywhere. Huh?" Swift asked the crowd in reference to the tour design. "A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media and it caught on. Then a lot of people were calling me a lot of things on social media and I went through some really low times for a while because of it. I went through some times when I didn't know if I was going to get to do this anymore."
As you'll remember, Kardashian put Swift on blast when she posted the audio from the pop star's phone conversation with West, where she consented to being name-dropped in "Famous," a single off the rapper's The Life of Pablo. It immediately started a backlash for the singer, with folks calling her a snake. Always the thoughtful star, the pop star decided to flip the script and used the symbolism to promote reputation.
Later in the speech, Swift admitted that her tribulations helped her come to some sound advice about online bullying. "I guess this means I wanted to send a message to you guys, that if someone uses name calling to bully you on social media, and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn't have to defeat you," the 28-year-old chart-topper explained. "It can strengthen you instead and I think something that came out of it that was good is that I learned a really important lesson that I've been telling you from the stage for about 10 years, but I never had to learn it so harshly myself, and that lesson has to do with how much you value your reputation. I think the lesson is that you shouldn't care so much if you feel misunderstood by a lot of people who don't know you, as long as you feel understood by the people who do know you, the people who will show up for you, the people who see you as a human being. So thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to get to know me, for seeing me as a human being."
Elsewhere during the pop titan's opening night, Swift serenaded her boyfriend Joy Alwyn when she showed him some love in the VIP area and dedicated "Gorgeous" to him. Scroll on below to see photos from the opening set as well as the full set list for her "reputation Stadium Tour."
1. …Ready For It?
2. I Did Something Bad
3. Gorgeous
4. Style
5. Love Story
6. You Belong With Me
7. Look What You Made Me Do
8. End Game
9. King Of My Heart
10. Delicate
11. Shake It Off (with special gusts Camila Cabello and Charli XCX)
12. Dancing With Our Hands Tied (Acoustic on guitar)
13. All Too Well (Acoustic on guitar)
14. Blank Space
15. Dress
16. Bad Blood
17. Should’ve Said No
18. Don’t Blame Me
19. Long Live (On piano)
20. New Year’s Day (On piano)
21. Getaway Car
22. Call It What You Want
23. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
24. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Photo: Getty Images