Nelly has revealed that Taylor Swift once paid him $50,000 for a three-minute guest spot — and stuffed the cash inside a McDonald’s bag.
The “Hot in Herre” rapper, 51, shared the bizarre payment tale Wednesday during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” telling listeners that Swift, 36, rang him “out of the blue” in 2011 with an urgent request. She and her friends had “made a routine to ‘Hot in Herre'” the night before, he recalled her saying over the phone, and she wanted to fly him from St. Louis to Houston, Texas, to join her onstage as a “really big favor.”
Swift, whom Nelly said he had known “for a long time,” admitted she didn’t “really have a budget” for the stunt and didn’t want to “disrespect” him. She offered the five-figure fee plus a ride on her private jet and a presidential suite at the Four Seasons.
“I said, ‘Can you put that [money] in a McDonald’s bag?'” Nelly recalled on the radio show. Sure enough, “her manager, Robert Allen … toss[ed him] a McDonald’s bag with $50,000 in cash.”
The St. Louis native never laid eyes on the luxury hotel room. He went straight from the venue to the airport, he noted, adding that money wasn’t “an issue” and he wouldn’t have performed “for free.”
“It was hilarious. I’ll take it,” he added.
At the 2011 show, part of Swift’s “Speak Now” tour, Nelly performed “Just a Dream” alongside the country-turned-pop singer. The collaboration sparked a running partnership: he returned for her “Red” tour in 2013 to perform “Hey Porsche,” then joined her again in 2015 during the “1989” world tour for the song that started it all, “Hot in Herre.”
Swift has reciprocated over the years, popping up unannounced at some of Nelly’s own concerts and duetting with him on “Dilemma.”
“Hell yeah,” Nelly fired back when asked Wednesday whether he counts himself a Swiftie.
He and his wife, Ashanti, were among the guests at Swift’s July wedding to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Nelly defended the high-profile guest list against any criticism, pointing to the breadth of relationships built across Swift’s lengthy career.
“People forget how long she’s actually been in the business,” he said. “And at the top of it. … And her husband might go down as the greatest tight end of all time by the time this is done.”
