Taylor Swift is infamous for her love of dropping Easter eggs for fans. But is her knowledge of chicken eggs as extensive? An exchange the “Midnights” artist had with comedian Trevor Noah at the Grammys on Feb. 5 has left many viewers wondering: does Swift know what eggs cost?
In case you missed the moment, Noah, who hosted the awards show, took a minute to praise Swifties’ dedication and loyalty. “I’ve got to tell you, Taylor, you have the best fans in the world,” Noah said. “I mean, what they did with Ticketmaster, what they might do for artists all over the world, what they might do for fans who want to go to concerts is amazing,” he continued, referring to the Ticketmaster drama that’s surrounded Swift’s Eras tour ticket sales.
Then, Noah threw Swift a curveball. “I’m just wondering once they’re done with this, can you get them to handle the price of eggs?” the comedian and author asked Swift. Noah was, of course, referring to the cost of chicken eggs in the US, which has been on the rise due in part to an avian bird flu outbreak that has limited the country’s supply. The price of eggs increased a whopping 138 percent between Dec. 2021 and Dec. 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Conversations about egg inflation have been swirling on social media as people jokingly compare eggs to gold and talk about having to get the formerly cheap protein source through egg dealers and other shady means.
At first, the singer seemed to roll with Noah’s joke, saying that “there’s really nothing that [her fans] can’t accomplish,” and assuring the host that, “they’ll get on it. Just let them know what you need.”
But as Noah wrapped up the bit – “Swifties: price of eggs, down! You go after those chickens,” he said – Swift shot the camera a lightheartedly incredulous look, shaking her head and mouthing, “I don’t know.”
Of course, Swift may have just been playing along with Noah’s silliness. As Twitter user @imamirrurball put it, the look could have meant, “We gotta fix the whole economy too now I guess?”
But her reaction also made some people wonder: does Taylor Swift actually know about the current state of egg prices? Or was she having her own Lucille Bluth moment: “It’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost? Ten dollars?”
In doing some digging, it appears that Swift is not unfamiliar with eggs. The protein source is featured in her “Anti-Hero” music video (chicken eggs, not just Easter eggs). She also famously loves baking, which is typically an egg-heavy hobby. And in 2012, she told Bon Appétit that she always keeps eggs in her fridge, to make her “go-to breakfast” of “buckwheat crepes with ham, Parmesan cheese, and a fried egg on top.”
But that interview was over a decade ago. Since then, Swift has only become more famous – even if she still eats eggs most mornings, it’s possible that she’s lost sight of how much she’s paying for them, and would therefore have no clue as to why Noah would be asking her to rally the power of her fans to make them cheaper.
Regardless, Swifties being Swifties, they’re likely already on the case. If they can instigate a Justice Department investigation into a major ticketing platform (full disclosure: The New York Times says the Ticketmaster investigation predates the Eras tour debacle), why couldn’t they help make our morning omelet a little less expensive?