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<\/a><\/p>\nTaylor Swift (L) and Adam Sandler (R). (Jamie McCarthy\/Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Adam Sandler officiated the ceremony between Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a spokesperson for Swift confirmed to media after the wedding.<\/p>\n
The event included a wide range of Jewish attendees, including the Haim sisters, who recently attended a Knicks game with Swift; the writer and actor Lena Dunham; Joshua Kushner, the businessman whose brother Jared is a top Middle East advisor to President Donald Trump; and Kelce\u2019s former teammate Mitchell Schwartz.<\/p>\n
Sandler\u2019s presence in particular fueled criticism from anti-Israel voices, who argued it was significant that someone who has described himself as \u201cvery pro-Israel\u201d officiated the wedding. Sandler has discussed his friendship with Swift and Kelce publicly, saying that it developed through his daughters, who are Swift fans.<\/p>\n
Swift has largely avoided wading into polarizing political issues, and her outlook on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a source of confusion for many fans, who have struggled to interpret her silence on the topic at a time when many celebrities have publicly voiced support for Gaza. Her decision not to publicly criticize Israel is seen as having bolstered her popularity among Israelis. At the same time, some pro-Palestinian fans have decried her silence and protested at her concerts, while others have speculated that she is privately pro-Palestinian but has avoided speaking out for fear of alienating fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor all the Swifties defending Taylor Swift regarding her silence on Palestine she had Adam Sandler \u2026 a well-known Zionist, officiate her wedding so I think we know where she stands now,\u201d tweeted an account called Land Palestine that had nearly 2 million followers on Instagram before being suspended last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all Zionists, clearly, and no doubt about it,\u201d tweeted the Oxford University student Kate Crawford, a prominent pro-Palestinian voice on X who identifies as partly Jewish.<\/p>\n
Some pro-Israel voices joined in the speculation. \u201cI wonder if she is publicly aligning herself with certain people for a soft launch of her views. If she were to say some pro-Israel or pro-Jewish things, I think it could go a long way amongst the younger generation,\u201d wrote one user on Reddit\u2019s \u201cJewish\u201d forum, in a post that was deleted but yielded nearly 200 comments parsing Swift\u2019s possible Israel attitudes. (Among the evidence offered for possible pro-Israel leanings: She and Kelce recently dined at a buzzy Israeli restaurant. But other commenters noted that Gigi Hadid, a Palestinian-American celebrity who has spread anti-Israel rhetoric, was also at the wedding.)<\/p>\n
The chatter about the wedding and Israel swelled so much that the parody account Buzz Crave riffed off of it with a viral post proclaiming: \u201cTaylor Swift and Travis Kelce have left the U.S. for Israel to start their honeymoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Swift, Sandler is not among the celebrities to engage in activism on Israel or Gaza. In fact, Sandler \u2014 whose early hits included \u201cThe Hanukkah Song\u201d \u2014 is not known to have visited Israel, after disclosing in a 2022 interview that he had never traveled to the country of one of his signature characters. He played Zohan Dvir, an Israeli soldier who prefers partying to war, in the 2008 comedy \u201cYou Don\u2019t Mess With the Zohan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandler made the \u201cvery pro-Israel\u201d comment in 2015 while criticizing artists who boycott Israel during an appearance on Howard Stern\u2019s radio show. He has said little publicly about Israel since the immediate aftermath of Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack that began the war in Gaza, when he said his \u201cheart is shattered\u201d and signed onto an entertainment industry letter calling on then-President Joe Biden to help return the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.<\/p>\n
For some, the reaction to Sandler\u2019s officiation added to a growing sense that no Jewish figure can escape being targeted by anti-Zionist activism. \u201cYou can stay silent. You can avoid politics. You can try not to get involved,\u201d the pro-Israel influencer Ran Alkalay posted on Instagram. \u201cFor antisemites, none of that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
For other Jewish voices commenting on the wedding, the guest list was immaterial. On Facebook, Rabbi David Glickman of Kansas City noted that Swift and Kelce had doled out $26 million in charitable gifts ahead of their nuptials.<\/p>\n
\u201cJewish tradition says that a bride and groom have the ear of God on their wedding day \u2014 so the couple will say silent prayers for folks in need. I\u2019m grateful your prayers weren\u2019t only silent,\u201d Glickman wrote. \u201cYou gave an example for all of us that personal celebration is made greater through tzedakah and generosity. Your charitable gifts are more impressive than a wedding at MSG \u2014 I hope it will get the same publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n