No, Megyn Kelly didn’t call for a Taylor Swift boycott because the singer attended an event in Gaza

The U.S. State Department advises Americans against traveling to Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed amid the Israel-Hamas war, because of "terrorism and armed conflict." 

And yet, an Oct. 14 Threads post sharing purported "breaking news" claims that singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was there for a "charity event," prompting criticism from talk show host Megyn Kelly. 

"BREAKING NEWS," the post said. "Megyn Kelly calls for boycott of Taylor Swift after singer attends charity event in Gaza. Taylor said: ‘I don't have to explain what I do, you talk like a .... ’"

The post also said "see more" and included a link.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Kelly, a onetime Fox News and NBC host, has publicly criticized Swift. After Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, Kelly said: "You can kiss your sales to the Republican audience goodbye." 

And in December, Kelly called for a Swift boycott after Swift attended Ramy Youssef’s comedy show that month in New York City. Youssef had posted on Instagram in November that all proceeds from the rest of that standup tour would benefit the American Near East Refugee Aid, or Anera, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization providing humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Kelly said Swift owed "Israelis and Jewish Americans an apology" for attending the show and that she hoped "they boycott her events until she issues it because attending this thing was wrong."

Featured Fact-check

Facebook posts

stated on September 22, 2024 in a Facebook post

“Taylor Swift’s concert attendance drops after Harris endorsement: ‘No Fans, just empty seats and echoes.’”

We found no evidence that Swift said "I don’t have to explain what I do, you talk like a …. " as the post claimed. Searching for that quote in connection with the artist turned up only social media posts like this Threads post. 

The link in the post led to a blog site called "Best Tattoo Zone,"which along with a headline containing Swift’s purported quote also featured multiple explicit photos of women with links leading to "dating" and lewd sites. The blog site  didn’t further explain where Swift purportedly said this. 

The blog also says in its headline that Swift attended a charity event in Gaza but says in the post that she appeared "at a high-profile charity event for Gaza."

In any case, it’s not true that Kelly recently urged people to boycott Swift because the singer attended a charity event in Gaza. We rate that claim False.