Kelsea Ballerini Shares Sweet Tribute to Taylor Swift Ahead of Reputation Tour

Kelsea Ballerini and Taylor Swift have been friends for years now, with Ballerini even joining Swift on stage during the pop star’s 1989 World Tour in 2015.

On Tuesday, Swift kicked off her Reputation Stadium Tour in Glendale, Arizona, and Ballerini posted a sweet tribute to her friend ahead of the evening to offer her support.

The “I Hate Love Songs” singer shared a photo of the duo sitting on a couch together, wearing matching towels and posing identically as they gaze into the distance.

“Happy tour kickoff to my friend that is equally as inviting, warm, and entertaining drinking wine on the couch as she is on stage,” Ballerini shared in her caption. “That being said, I can’t wait to come fangirl and get inspired. Potentially with a sign. Potentially also with some kind of snake apparel. Go get em, sister.”

Swift left an equally adorable comment on the photo, writing, “It’s so weird that people say we’re similar, I don’t see it at ALL. Love you kel kel.”

Swift’s tour stops in Nashville on August 25, so it’s safe to say that Ballerini, who performs in music city on August 24 with Keith Urban, will be on hand for the show.

During her Glendale performance, Swift made headlines when she addressed her long-standing feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. As fans will recall, West infamously recorded a phone call between himself and Swift regarding the lyrics to West’s song “Famous,” with Kardashian later posting the call on Snapchat. The incident led to a widespread use of the snake emoji against Swift, something the star admitted was difficult to deal with initially.

“A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media and it caught on,” she told the crowd, via E! News. “Then a lot of people were calling me a lot of things on social media and I went through some really low times for a while because of it. I went through some times when I didn’t know if I was going to get to do this anymore.”

“I guess this means I wanted to send a message to you guys, that if someone uses name calling to bully you on social media, and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn’t have to defeat you. It can strengthen you instead,” Swift continued.

“I think the lesson is that you shouldn’t care so much if you feel misunderstood by a lot of people who don’t know you, as long as you feel understood by the people who do know you, the people who will show up for you, the people who see you as a human being.”

Photo Credit: Getty / John Shearer / LP5