Alyssa Bailey
While Taylor Swift celebrated Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs’ big win at Arrowhead Stadium, Selena Gomez gave her close friend a little wink at the Emmys. Gomez was the night’s first presenter with her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Martin Short and Steve Martin. The trio fired jokes back and forth, and Gomez slipped in a “childless cat lady” quip days after Swift embraced the term in her endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The Republican nominee for vice president, JD Vance, of course, went viral for saying it as an insult in 2021. Per NPR, he said at the time that the country was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs, and “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” His remarks resurfaced after he was tapped as Donald Trump’s running mate—including at the Emmys.
Midway through her presentation with Martin and Short, Gomez teased them. “And let me say what an honor it is to work with two guys who are this far away from being childless cat ladies,” she said, after fighting back laughter.
Swift repurposed Vance’s insult too, using it to sign her Harris endorsement on Instagram. She wrote:
I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.
I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.
With love and hope,
Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady
Register to vote here.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
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