Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was seen backing his national team at the World Cup in Houston on Saturday, less than a day after appearing at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in New York City.
Gretzky, whose friendship with President Donald Trump has recently drawn criticism in Canada, appeared on Fox’s coverage as the co-hosts bowed out of the competition with a 3-0 Round of 32 loss to Morocco.
Only hours before taking his seat at NRG Stadium, the 65-year-old was reportedly among around 1,000 guests inside Madison Square Garden on Friday night for Swift and Kelce’s lavish ceremony.
He attended the event with his longtime wife, Janet, while their daughter Paulina — who is married to golf star Dustin Johnson — was also present.
Swift drew backlash last year after she and Kelce were photographed sitting alongside Gretzky at the Stanley Cup Finals in Florida, a moment that upset some liberals and members of her devoted fanbase because of Gretzky’s close ties to Trump.
That public appearance came only weeks after Kelce and his older brother, Jason, hosted the NHL icon on their New Heights podcast.
Wayne Gretzky was spotted supporting Canada at the World Cup in Houston on Saturday
The hockey great and his wife Janet also attended Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in New York City
Gretzky has recently come under fire both in his homeland of Canada and the neighboring United States over his friendship with Trump.
Despite previously threatening to make Canada the 51st US state, and placing tariffs on imports from the country, the President still has the backing of one of its greatest ever athletes, whom he has also tipped to run for ‘governor’ one day.
However, Gretzky’s MAGA affiliation was not enough for Swift and Kelce to leave him off the guest list in the Big Apple.
The four-time Stanley Cup champion shared a photo from the wedding and declared it a ‘great night’ after joining a host of A-list names at Madison Square Garden.
He then made a mad 1,600-mile dash from New York City to Houston to support Canada at the World Cup, only for his nation to suffer elimination at the hands of Morocco.
Swift and Kelce’s wedding, which closed off the streets around MSG, featured a who’s who of the celebrity world, such as Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg and Jay-Z, with 1,000 guests from Hollywood, the music industry, fashion and sports colliding.
One person who failed to land an invite, however, was Kelce’s NFL teammate Harrison Butker.
Gretzky’s daughter Paulina, the wife of golf star Dustin Johnson, was also at the wedding
Gretzky was pictured sitting with Swift and Kelce at the Stanley Cup Finals in June 2025
He has faced scrutiny in Canada of late due to his friendship with President Donald Trump
An NFL source told the Daily Mail that Butker, who has played alongside Kelce with the Kansas City Chiefs since 2017, was not at the wedding on Friday.
He is believed to be the only member of the Kansas City roster who did not receive an invitation, with every other Chiefs player expected to be in attendance on Friday night.
Butker sparked uproar two years ago when he suggested women should prioritize being stay-at-home mothers over their careers during a commencement speech at Kansas City’s Benedictine College.
The three-time Super Bowl champion also appeared to condemn then-President Joe Biden’s pro-abortion stance and the LGBTQ+ community, igniting outrage at the time. A petition for Butker to be cut by the Chiefs was signed by more than 260,000 people.
Amid the controversy, Kelce stood up for his teammate against the cancel culture backlash, describing him as a ‘great person’ – despite admitting he disagreed with almost every opinion he shared in the speech.
‘When it comes down to his views and what he said at the Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids,’ he said about Butker on his New Heights podcast in May 2024.
‘And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.
Swift and Kelce tied the knot in an extravagant wedding ceremony at Madison Square Garden
The couple invited an estimated 1,000 guests to the iconic arena in Midtown Manhattan
‘I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities in Cleveland Heights and that’s why I love Cleveland Heights for what it was.
‘It showed me a broad spectrum, a broad view of a lot of different walks of life. I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons and I never once had to feel that I needed to judge them based [on] their beliefs.
‘My household, my mother and my father both provided for my family and both my mother and my father made home what it was. They were homemakers and they were providers. And they were unbelievable at being present every single day of my life.
‘I think that was a beautiful upbringing for me. Now I don’t think everyone should do it the way my parents did, but I certainly, sure as hell, thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and make home what it was.
‘I’m not the same person without the both of them being who they were in my life.’
