Taylor Swift's Impending 'SNL' Return Causes Chaotic Rush for Tickets Among Fans

By Daniel S. Levine

Taylor Swift fans in New York City tried to be as swift as possible on Friday after Saturday Night Live announced how to get standby tickets for her appearance on the show this weekend. Chaos reportedly broke out at Rockefeller Center when fans rushed to the NBC Studios store in Manhattan. After the SNL team posted a tweet with instructions on how to get tickets, fans complained about the scene, with one describing what happened as "absolutely not fair."

The situation started when NBC announced that fans could get a standby reservation spot beginning at 10 a.m. inside The Shop at NBC Studios, and told fans to go through the Sixth Avenue entrance. Less than two hours later, NBC revealed that all standby reservations were given out. Anyone who received a reservation could then return to 30 Rock Friday night for the standby line. Anyone who did not get one would not be allowed to join the line.

Swift fans rushed to the Sixth Avenue entrance first, but witnesses told the New York Daily News the exit was locked. NBC staff then let fans into the building through a different entrance as other fans scrambled to find other open entrances. "There were like hundreds of people pushed in to get into that entrance and they didn't even let anyone into the location they told us to go to," one fan who wanted to celebrate her 21st birthday at SNL, said.

NBC's tweet was also swamped with horror stories from fans who tried to get in. "You guys created a state of emergency with the line today," one fan wrote. "I walked away from that mess and saw multiple people recovering from being trampled/upset over losing their personal items and a girl crying with a broken arm. People got hurt. It was entirely irresponsible."

Another fan said the situation was "absolutely" not fair. "One security guard, who thought he was giving me a good excuse, said something about a line was already formed inside the building from last night and outside folks were spillovers," the fan wrote. "Gee, so people got to stay at NBC lobby overnight? Don't think so."

One Swift fan broke their arm during the chaos, a fan claimed on Twitter. The New York Fire Department told the Daily News that one person was taken to Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital around 11:40 a.m., but the extend of their injuries was not available. "It was a melee," one fan's mother told the Daily News. "It's outrageous that they allowed that to happen. As the day went on I felt like, you know, this story should be told because it needs to not happen ever again." The mother was shocked that this happened, especially in light of the tragedy at the Astroworld festival in Houston last week, when nine people died and hundreds were injured.

SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays. Swift will perform, with actor Jonathan Majors as the host. This marks Swift's fifth time performing on SNL and first time since October 2019.

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