NEW YORK — Travis Kelce reflected on his unforgettable proposal to Taylor Swift in his first podcast episode since the two tied the knot at Madison Square Garden over the Fourth of July weekend.

On Wednesday’s season finale of the hit “New Heights” podcast he co-hosts with big brother and fellow Super Bowl champ Jason Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 36, said it was “pretty epic” to be “ending the season with (guest) Tom Brady” and to have “start(ed) it with Taylor.” The Grammy winner, also 36, made her podcast debut on the first episode of the show’s Season 4 last Aug. 13, a nod to Swift’s favorite number.

“During that recording, the entire time, I’m planning like I’m gonna ask this woman to marry me after this,” Kelce said, laughing at the memory. “Those were probably two like really cool moments of the season. Obviously, the beginning of it, with Taylor, is one I’ll remember forever, so …”

“It’s by far the most-viewed episode of all time,” said retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason, 38.

“It was pretty fun,” said Travis.

Former New England Patriots quarterback Brady was among the 1,000-plus attendees at the Swift-Kelce wedding Friday and, according to CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, was among the guests who departed early, as were Chris Rock, Hugh Grant, and “Good Morning America” correspondent George Stephanopoulos.

Kelce proposed to Swift immediately after their two-hour podcast episode, which they announced with a joint Instagram post on Aug. 26.

The couple, who first got together in July 2023 and publicly debuted their love story that September, reportedly planned to exchange vows June 13 at Rhode Island’s Ocean House. But they ultimately did so July 3 at the World’s Most Famous Arena, cordoning off the surrounding Midtown streets from July 2 through midday on the Fourth of July, with hundreds of New York Police Department officers posted outside.

Dedicated fans, known as Swifties, breathlessly waited outside the venue for a peek at Swift or other stars. Though no one beyond the guests has viewed the much-hyped but ultra-private wedding, artist Justin Gignac collected waste from outside MSG Friday, which he’s selling for $25 via New York City Garbage, to those who just want a piece of the iconic moment.

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NEW YORK — Justin Bieber will bring his swag to the World Cup's star-studded, Super Bowl-style halftime show, joining fellow headliners Madonna, Shakira and BTS, FIFA announced Wednesday.

Afrobeats star Burna Boy, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the PS22 Chorus — a choir of elementary school students based in Staten Island, N.Y. — will also perform, the last joined by Coldplay.

The 11-minute halftime performance, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin, will take place during the final outside New York on July 19. The show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is raising $100 million to help children access education and soccer.

“The FIFA World Cup brings the world together in a way nothing else can,” Bieber said in a statement. “I’m grateful to be part of this Halftime Show, and even more grateful knowing it’s already helping expand access to education for children around the world.”

Of all the performances, the addition of Burna Boy is particularly noteworthy: He’s one-half of this year’s official song for the World Cup, “Dai Dai,” led by Shakira. The song is a mesh of their musical landscapes: Afrobeats and Latin rhythms, an undeniably global, multilingual pop track. In one verse, they name a number of the world’s most famous soccer players and countries competing in this year’s World Cup: “Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia,” Shakira cheers. “Mexico, Japan, Korea, Netherlands.”

“The FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments that truly brings the entire world together,” Burna Boy said in a statement. “To represent Africa on the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show is a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.”

And while the Super Bowl is famed for its halftime show, such performances are not commonplace in soccer, with events like the Champions League final featuring a prematch concert.

This year’s World Cup halftime performance will also feature some characters from “Sesame Street,” as well as Muppets like Kermit and Miss Piggy.

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LONDON — Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat Tuesday as a judge said he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers Ltd. engaged in unlawful activities. He said there was a shortage of evidence to support the claims and found a possibility that the reporting came from legitimate sources.

“In substance, the claimants’ case invites the Court to conclude that, because the information was private and because Associated cannot positively explain how it was sourced, the article must have been unlawfully sourced,” Nicklin wrote. “That is not a permissible approach.”

The ruling scuttles a bid by Harry and six others, including singer Elton John and actor-model Elizabeth Hurley, seeking substantial damages but could leave them with massive legal bills. ANL put the legal costs for both sides above 50 million pounds ($67 million) for years of case preparation and an 11-week trial.

The publisher called it an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication” of the Mail's journalism.

The newspapers had denied the allegations as “preposterous,” insisting the roughly 50 articles at issue were based on lawful sources including friends, royal aides and publicists who offered information to reporters.

Harry said the court had denied him the justice and accountability he sought.

“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected,” Harry said in a joint statement with another claimant, anti‑racism activist Doreen Lawrence. “However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.”

The 436-page decision leaves a mixed legacy for Harry's trio of lawsuits accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics, such as phone hacking or hiring private detectives to dig up dirt on his life.

Harry won a judgment in 2023 that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking. Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid, The Sun, made an unprecedented apology for intruding on his life for years and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer not involved in the case, said Harry's first significant loss was due to a lack of evidence such as admissions of culpability that he had in previous lawsuits.

“This was always a mosaic case where little inferences from different things were being put together by the lawyers for Prince Harry,” Stephens said. “Associated Newspapers' lawyers cleverly rearranged the tiles to show an innocent picture as opposed to the culpable picture that the claimants' lawyers were trying to demonstrate.”

The verdict, released remotely with no court hearing, coincided with Harry’s visit home to the United Kingdom, which has been dominated by headlines over his latest efforts to repair a rift with his father, King Charles III.

Harry has said his litigation — in which he broke with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts — was a primary source of his falling out with his father and brother, Prince William.

His grudge with the tabloids runs deep and his legal actions are part of his larger quest to reform the news media that he says damaged his relationships and made him “paranoid beyond belief.”

He blames the press for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris, and for attacks on his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, that led the couple to abandon royal life and move to the United States in 2020.

“They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery,” he testified as he choked back tears in the witness box during the trial in January.

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From combined wire services