The Wrexham AFC announcers name-dropped Taylor Swift during the latest episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
During the Thursday, June 5 episode, Wrexham was playing rivals (and the Tom Brady-owned team) Birmingham. While the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney owned Red Dragons initially had a leg up, things started to go south in the match.
“Ruby slippers invoking the spirit of the patron saint of lost causes, Taylor Swift, and saying shake it off, Reds,” one of the announcers could be heard saying during the game. “You’ve got plenty of time.”
The game, which was filmed in January, ultimately ended in a draw.
This was not the first time Swift had been referenced in Welcome to Wrexham. During season 3, which aired last year, Reynolds joked about his plans to “lure” Swift to Wales in support of the soccer (football in the U.K.) team.
Thursday’s name-drop, however, comes just after the ongoing drama surrounding the singer and longtime friend Blake Lively, who is married to Wrexham coowner Reynolds.
Swift has been named multiple times in Lively’s ongoing legal battle against It Ends With Us director and costar Justin Baldoni. Last month, she was issued a subpoena in the suit. A rep for Swift released a statement addressing the news.
Taylor Swift. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film,” the singer’s rep shared in a statement to Us. “She did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.”
One of Swift’s songs was used in the It Ends With Us trailer, but that was the singer’s only connection to the film.
Blake Lively‘s ongoing legal drama with Justin Baldoni took an unexpected turn by pulling in Taylor Swift. After costarring in It Ends With Us together, Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 accusing her costar and director of of sexual harassment and orchestrating an alleged smear campaign. In her filing, Lively claimed that Baldoni named Swift […]
“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did,” the statement concluded. “This document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Us Weekly confirmed in late May that the subpoena against Swift had been dropped. (Lively and Baldoni are set to appear in court starting in March 2026.)
The move to involve Swift in the ongoing legal battle has reportedly impacted her friendship with Lively.
“Taylor and Blake have talked, but it’s strained,” a source told Us exclusively in a May cover story. “Their friendship is not what it used to be.”
New episodes of Welcome to Wrexham premiere on FX Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET and are streaming via Hulu the following day.
