White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge has defended Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s visit to Sydney Zoo after animal rights organisation PETA called out the A-list couple.

The popstar and her NFL boyfriend went on a date at the 16.5-hectare site last week ahead of Swift’s three concerts in Australia’s biggest city, and they were spotted even petting a little kangaroo.

PETA released a statement saying the couple should ‘spend their time and money at a true sanctuary’ instead.

But Jennifer has defended the couple’s trip to the zoo, claiming they probably didn’t put a lot of thought into the date and were just looking for something romantic to do.

‘I love Taylor and they seem like animal lovers so I can’t condemn those guys I love them,’ the actress, 62, told TMZ.

‘I’m sure they didn’t think about it much and were trying to do something romantic so I’m going to let them off the hook on it but I agree with PETA on everything.’

Debbie Metzler – PETA Foundation’s Director of Captive Animal Welfare – was far from impressed with the sighting of the You Belong with Me hitmaker.

In a shared statement, she said: ‘While we understand all too well the appeal of seeing Australia’s wildlife, PETA hopes that next time Taylor and Travis want to see wild animals, they’ll spend their time and money at a true sanctuary.’

The charitable organisation added that a sanctuary is a better choice due to visitors being at a respectful distance from animals and the fact that they can’t feed or touch them there.

Swift wrapped up the Australian leg of her Eras tour on Monday after playing to more than 600,000 fans across Melbourne and Sydney.

A record-breaking 96,000 fans attended each of her three nights in Melbourne, while Sydney attracted a further 83,000 Swifties at each of her four shows.

The pop sensation reportedly earned $25million per Sydney show.

Swift also injected a whopping $145m into the NSW economy, as thousands of local and interstate fans flocked to the city for the must-see event of the year.

The pop star will now head to Singapore for three concerts on March 2, 3 and 4.