Jerrod Carmichael Tells Jimmy Kimmel That Taylor Swift Is His Definitely His ‘Best Friend’

Jerrod Carmichael at 2023 Golden Globes
Rich Polk/NBC
You may not have known it — because he never winds up in any of her squad pics — but comic/actor Jerrod Carmichael is besties with Taylor Swift. The star of the new HBO series the Jerrod Michael Reality Show told Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night (March 20) that Swift is basically his “best friend.”

The admission came after Kimmel put up a picture of Carmichael hanging with Swift in a box in Buffalo, New York during a Jan. 21 Kansas City Chiefs victory over the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Championship on their way to winning Super Bowl LVIII. In the snap, Swift is, of course, fully decked out in red and white KC gear, while Carmichael is rocking a fuzzy coat over a red jersey.

“Taylor Swift’s my best friend,” Carmichael doubled-down, lamenting that he should have asked the singer to be part of his sometimes intense new HBO series, which he described as a mixture of traditional reality mixed with very frank discussions with his family about his personal life. “Like I’m not her best friend, but she’s my best friend,” Carmichael quadrupled down.

“Can you think of a better friend to have than Taylor Swift?” Carmichael wondered. “I called my former best friend and I was like, ‘You’re out! You never invited me on a jet to your game.’ Taylor’s my best… no, she’s very smart and interesting.” Carmichael said Swift called and asked him to the game, and, not for nothing, the comedian said the singer also definitely “knows more about football” than he does.

When Kimmel wondered, given her deep knowledge of the Xs and Os, if Carmichael asked Swift questions about football, Jerrod said, “yeah, yeah, I’m the girlfriend in that situation.” Anticipating the raft of headlines (such as the one above) screaming “Jerrod Carmichael Says Taylor Swift Is His Best Friend,” Carmichael lamented that he would probably not even get first mention in most stories given the singer’s status.

“Actually, I won’t even get top-billing! It’ll say: ‘Taylor Swift: Jerrod Carmichael’s Best Friend?’ Don’t do that to me, it’s gotta be something else,” he joked. “I do love her though.” The Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show debuts on March 29.