With her “Eras” tour landing in Kobe Bryant’s town, Taylor Swift shared a special moment with the late basketball star’s young daughter.
Swift performed her first of six sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles Thursday night, thrilling her bedazzled fans with a three-hour spectacle packed with dozens of songs, including surprise performances of “I Can See You,” and “Maroon.”
But it was a special moment during her performance of “22” from her 2012 “Red” album that caused a viral sensation. The Grammy winner, 33, walked across the stage, knelt down and shared a big hug with Bianka Bryant, the 6-year-old daughter of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant, who was on the steps at the edge of the stage, as more than 70,000 fans looked on.
Mom Vanessa shared a photo of the embrace to her 15 million plus followers on Instagram, where it racked up over 532,000 likes.
“We love you @taylorswift,” she captioned the photo.
Swift also gave the black hat she wore during the performance to Bianka. Giving a “22” hat to a fan during each live performance has become a tradition for the singer.
The exchange went viral online, with dozens of posts showing the exchange from various angles in the stadium.
Earlier in the day, Vanessa Bryant posted a picture of a special jean jacket that featured a picture of the late NBA star and Swift together with the word “SWIFTIE,” across it. The photo of them together was taken by photographer Christopher Polk, at the Staples Center on August 21, 2015, during Swift’s 1989 world tour, according to Newsweek.
She also posted a photo that paid tribute to Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, who was 13 when she died in the helicopter crash that also killed her father, 41. The post depicted a patch on the denim jacket that said “Say You’ll Remember Me.”
Swift returns to SoFi Friday through Wednesday before heading to Mexico ahead of a break before resuming in South America in November, then to Asia, Australia and Europe next year. Earlier Thursday, she announced new dates added for 2024 in Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Toronto.
The epic tour has already sold more than 2 million tickets.
