Revealing the Toronto Maple Leafs Most Famous Celebrity Fans
By Jeff Borsuk
They’re Not Really Leafs Fans
The list of famous Leafs fans is a long one, but don’t be confused by some who have been omitted. There are many celebrities who have been misrepresented as fans. This is mostly because they have worn team paraphernalia to a game, an event, or for ulterior motives. Just because the Queen of England adorned a Maple Leafs brooch, it doesn’t make her a fan of the Buds.
Donald Trump
In April of 2012, Donald Trump posed with a custom Leafs Jersey with his name on the back. He didn’t have any affection for the franchise. Trump and his sons were in Toronto for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Trump International Hotel & Tower.
Trump was greeted by Mayor Rob Ford, Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles, and Toronto Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia as a part of the spectacle. The use of the Leafs sweater was an attempt to connect him and his business with the city in an organic way.
It didn’t work.
Russell Crowe
There are many photos of Russell Crowe online that show him wearing a different variety of Maple Leafs caps. He was even captured wearing matching hats with his son. These photos led Twitter users to demand answers from Crowe; was he really a Leafs fan? Eventually, Crowe responded.
Relax... we shot Cinderella Man in the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) May 18, 2019
It looks like a leafs hat but it’s actually a CM crew hat.
I’m a @penguins fan. We all know that. I keep an eye on @CanadiensMTL because of @alanthomasdoyle and @Kevin_Durand and @NHLBruins because of @ScottGrimes
Though he is a talented actor, it turns out that Crowe’s taste in hockey teams is much to be desired.
David Letterman
#ThanksDave @Letterman pic.twitter.com/XTKIgDsFYj
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 21, 2015
The Late Night host and funny man, David Letterman, was revealed to sport a Leafs sweater as a young man by the official Twitter account of the team. There are other pictures of him online wearing the same jersey. This led to speculation that Letterman was a fan of the team. It turns out that he is actually a Rangers fan.
Kit Harington
When photos surfaced of Kit Harington, one of the stars of Game of Thrones, wearing a Leafs jersey at a Toronto hockey game, media outlets and the internet ran wild to proclaim Jon Snow a fan. The pictures were from 2013 when Harington was in Toronto shooting the movie Pompeii.
One could debate whether a couple of months of supporting a franchise qualifies as a fan. If so, then Harington is a welcome member of the fanbase. There are however many celebrities who love the team unconditionally. Let’s meet them now.