During the latest stop on The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift once again showed her love for the Bryant family.
During the second of six shows at the SoFi Stadium, in Inglewood, California, Swift was joined by a whole host of special guests including Sarah Paulson, Ashley Tisdale, Hayley Kiyoko, Vanessa Lachey, Lizzy McAlpine and more.
Also in attendance are longtime friends, the Bryant family. Before the concert came to an end, whilst playing her cult hit “22”, Swift took the time to give six-year-old Bianka a hug and a kiss as she gifted her the hat which is part of an outfit lifted from the music video. Previously, Swift has given the hat to Selena Gomez’s sister.
Swifties reacted to the moment, saying: “NO I AM ACTUALLY CRYING”, “the cheek kiss i’m crying”, and “I am indeed crying like a baby”.
The Bryant family have long been Swifties. In 2020 Swift sent Natalia Bryant a replica of the “folklore” cardigan. Natalia shared the cardigan on her Instagram story, adding that she was “obsessed” with the album. In response to the release of her new album, Swift sent a special Midnights gift to Vanessa Bryant.
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— dahlia | 🩵 (@flImaddict) August 4, 2023
| Taylor hugging Kobe Bryant's daughter Bianka tonight after giving her the ‘22’ hat #LATSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/fLADdYQoDD
— Taylor Swift News 🩵 (@TSwiftNZ) August 4, 2023
Ahead of the show in Los Angeles, last night, Vanessa shared a post to her Instagram of a customised jacket that she planned to wear. It had ‘Swift’ in bedazzled letters alongside a photo her and Bryant’s late husband, Kobe. The front contained a lyric from “Wildest Dreams” – Swift’s song which features on 1989 – “Say you’ll remember me”.
The picture of Swift and Bryant was taken in 2015, during the 1989 tour, where the five-time champion took the time to honour Swift for setting the record of ‘most sold out shows’ in the history of the Staples Centre – now known as the Cryto.com arena.
The NBA star had even shared a photo from the night, and recalled the moment Swift’s banner was commemorated at the venue. In the Instagram caption, he wrote: “Friends hang from time to time but banners hang forever @taylorswift”.
Five years later in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. Upon hearing the news, Swift gave a touching tribute, which read: “My heart is in pieces hearing the news of this unimaginable tragedy. I can’t fathom what the families are going through. Kobe meant so much to me and to us all.”
