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As the daughter of the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, and a top-ranked tennis star, Jessica Pegula is probably one of the few people on the planet who can relate to Taylor Swift in terms of wealth and fame.
But in an unexpected turn of events, Jessica has attracted the ire of the most aggressive cult on the internet:
No, not people who hate The Odyssey because it has ethnic people in it (though they’re pretty deranged too). We’re talking about Swifties.
Yes, Jessica sparked backlash after discussing Taylor Swift’s wedding Travis Kelce during a recent episode of “The Players Podcast.”
While the conversation appeared lighthearted, some listeners felt the comments crossed the line.
Pegula was joined by fellow tennis players Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk when the group began talking about the high-profile ceremony, which took place at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Krawczyk, the biggest Swift fan of the group, offered a supportive take.
“Congrats, guys. I hope she hears this. Good for them. She got her fairytale ending,” she said.
Brady, however, took a different approach.
“I mean, there’s not one thought in this brain. Everybody under the sun, like, was invited,:she said
She then joked about Swift’s dating history, saying, “Yeah, she’s had like 20 exes or something.”
Pegula’s own reaction also caught fans’ attention.
“I can’t believe they got married. She ended up marrying the jock football player after all,” said Jessica.
While none of the comments appeared especially harsh on their own, many Swifties felt the overall tone was dismissive and unnecessarily critical.
One fan summed up the reaction on social media by writing:
“They could’ve simply not mentioned her rather than being condescending and misogynistic, but well” (via Yahoo! News).
This isn’t the first time Pegula has spoken publicly about Swift’s wedding.
Following her Wimbledon victory over Iva Jovic, Pegula was asked whether she had been following the buzz surrounding the ceremony.
“A little bit,” she admitted, explaining that Krawczyk was the group’s biggest Swift fan.
“It’s been a little bit of a topic because nobody knew what was happening with it.”
Pegula also acknowledged the flood of rumors leading up to the event, including speculation about the venue and reports that Adam Sandler officiated the ceremony.
Reflecting on how private the celebration remained despite Swift’s global fame, Pegula admitted she wasn’t surprised.
“It’s Taylor Swift. I don’t expect anything less than doing something different,” she said.
Pegula is the daughter of Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, while Swift has become one of the Kansas City Chiefs’ most recognizable supporters since beginning her relationship with Kelce, so there might a bit of football-related bad blood here.
That NFL rivalry may be all in good fun, but judging by the online response, Taylor’s devoted fan base wasn’t laughing at Jessica’s comments.
