Why did Taylor Swift turn down the 2023 Super Bowl half-time show?

There was a rumor that Taylor Swift was going to play in the Super Bowl halftime show this year. Shortly after that report circulated, it was revealed that she would not be singing at the big game but that it would be Rihanna instead.

Many assumed that the idea that the 11-time Grammy-winning recording artist would play the Super Bowl was just a pipe dream. But as it turns out, she was legitimately approached about it.

She turned down the offer, obviously, and she cited an interesting reason. According to TMZ, Swift was very clear on her reasoning - she didn't want to do anything of that magnitude until she finished re-recording her first six studio albums.

Swift just released her 10th studio album, "Midnights." However, the first six of them are technically owned by Scooter Braun, the man who bought the recording label she was a part of and the master versions of her six albums.

Naturally, Swift wants to own her own songs. She has recorded four albums since that she owns outright ("Lover," "Folklore," "Evermore" and "Midnights"). She's also already rerecorded two of them in "Fearless" (Taylor's Version) and "Red" (Taylor's Version).

It takes a long time to rerecord a full album, and Swift often includes bonus tracks she never released with the original album, too. For example, "Red" had 16 tracks on it. Her rerelease had 30.

All told, she wasn't ready to commit to such a big performance like the Super Bowl half-time show when she had so much on her plate already.

The big game is coming on Sunday

She's also preparing for her Eras Tour, which sold out in incredible time, so she has a lot going on that prevented her from agreeing to do the Super Bowl.

Swift did say she wouldn't do it "until" she rerecorded all of them, so there's a safe bet she'll eventually headline the big game.

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When is the Super Bowl halftime show?

The game begins at about 6:30 on Sunday, February 12. Given the nature of the game and how important commercials are to it, it can be expected that the first half will take two and a half hours or more.

Sometime around 9:00 pm EST, the halftime show will commence and Rihanna will perform.