Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship is causing football fans some serious problems…
And now, the NFL has been accused of racial bias.
ter fans noticed they were far more focused on Swift that fellow game-attendee Simone Biles.
A fan wrote: “I don’t watch the games to see who is in the stands. I watch to see the game. I stopped counting at 10 times seeing her before the half.”
People have been slamming the NFL online, with many saying they should be focusing more on the game than Taylor Swift.
Now, the country singer is a beloved figure in the world of music.
Swift released her self-titled debut album in 2006 and received a whole array of positive reviews from music critics, including a glowing piece by The New York Times.
They described it as “a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift’s firm, pleading voice.”
Not a bad job for a sixteen-year-old newbie writing her own material, right?
But her second album was the one that really blew up for her.
With hits like ‘Love Story’ and ‘White Horse’, Swift found herself being propelled to superstardom and the album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.
And from then on, her fame skyrocketed.
IMDb describes Swift as “a multi-Grammy award-winning American singer/songwriter who, in 2010 at the age of twenty, became the youngest artist in history to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.”
It continued: “In 2011 Swift was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year.
“She also has been named the American Music Awards Artist of the Year, as well as the Entertainer of the Year for both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, among many other accolades. As of this writing, she is also the top-selling digital artist in music history.”
Swift has even received an honorary doctorate from NYU!
This was for her achievements as “one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation”.
There were, of course, a few bumps in the road…
But she became a source of inspiration for other young women trying to get into the industry with their own content.
But it wasn’t all positive…
The journey wasn’t an easy one, and Swift hardly discussed the dark side until very recently.
Swift has has her fair share of bad relationships.
And it seems she uses this to help give more meaning to her music.
One of her mishaps was her relationship with fellow singer-songwriter John Mayer.
Mayer and Swift dated briefly when he was thirty-two and she was just nineteen, back in 2009 to 2010.
The star has written many songs rumored to be about Mayer, from ‘Speak Now’ and ‘Dear John’ to a track on the extended edition of her latest album Midnights.
The song is titled ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’, and if you haven’t listened to it yet, it’s pretty savage!
However, more significant is the sheer success that the album is seeing.
Since its release, Midnights has smashed all sorts of records, including becoming the most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify.
Swift described the new record as “the stories of thirteen sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
And that retrospective spirit does certainly carry itself through the album.
One of the themes she explores is her experience of struggling with an eating disorder.
The star first opened up about her experience in her Netflix documentary Miss Americana.
She said “it’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day,” and that “it’s only happened a few times, and I’m not in any way proud of it.”
She continued to explain that seeing “a picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or… someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”
In new track ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’, the star refers to this struggle for the first time in her music.
“I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss,” Swift sings.
However, it’s the lead single ‘Anti-Hero’ is what has everyone talking…
One scene in the track’s music video angered certain fans…
The controversial scene shows Swift standing in the bathroom with her apparent evil clone, who orders her onto the scales.
Once she steps onto them, the camera pans down to show the scales reading not a number but simply the word “FAT.”
With her experience in mind, some fans were shocked by this scene.
Juliet James even wrote an article for HuffPost titled ‘I Love Taylor Swift, But There’s A Big Problem With Her New Video’.
James wrote: “The worst part of this is that the moment she got on that scale, I knew … Because fatphobia is this pervasive in our culture.
“Taylor Swift is not, and has never been, even remotely fat.”
She continued: “But ‘fat’ isn’t a bad word (to be clear, neither is skinny). It’s a descriptive word society has turned into an insult.
“They might ‘feel fat,’ because our culture has turned body size into feelings, and because even thin women are harmed by our society’s insidious and painful messaging about bodies, but it is not the same as actually being fat.”
“Someone who looks like Taylor will never understand how actually being fat feels,” explained the writer.
However, others have hit back at this view, and rushed to defend the star.
Swift herself said on Instagram: “This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself.”
She said the video shows her “nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts play out in real time.”
Fans have used this fact to defend the star.
One tweeted: “If you have a problem with Taylor depicting her own eating disorders and body dysmorphia in a video about how much she hates herself might I suggest realizing that not everything is about you.”
Another said: “Showing Taylor being terrified of fatness is depicting her past distorted ED mindset… not promoting it. She’s highlighting the fact that it is distorted.”
You can watch the music video for yourself here.
However, that drama came before the star’s made history…
Swift achieved something that no other artist had managed before.
The pop star’s latest achievement is that she is the first artist ever to occupy the entirety of the top ten all at once.
She surpassed the previous record of holding 9 out of the top 10 spots.
“10 out of 10 of the Hot 100??? On my 10th album??? I AM IN SHAMBLES,” the star tweeted in response to the news.
Swift’s new record also topped the album charts, tying the star with Barbara Streisand for the female artist with the most number 1 albums.
The lead single ‘Anti-Hero’, even with its controversial music video, snagged the top spot.
It was followed by ‘Lavender Haze’, ‘Maroon’ and ‘Snow on the Beach’, featuring fellow singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey.
The rest of the top 10 was padded out by yet more of the new album.
It marks the perfect end to a big week for Swift, who also managed to break global Spotify streaming records with her new album.
Congrats to Swift for making the history books!
And with the recent news of her ‘Eras’ tour, many fans waited patiently in an attempt to snag tickets.
However, Ticketmaster quickly became overloaded…
And the site crashed, leaving millions waiting in line for hours.
Many turned to social media to vent their frustrations…
One wrote: “When Taylor Swift wrote ‘The Great War’ she was actually preparing us for the Battle of Ticketmaster. Her mind!”
Another joked: “8 billion people in the world and every single one of them is ahead of me in the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue apparently.”
Ticketmaster themselves took to Twitter to share an update with customers, revealing there was a “historically unprecedented demand” for tickets with “millions” having signed up for the presale.
They urged fans to “please hang tight” adding that queues were moving, albeit slowly.
You can see the post here.
However, the next update left fans utterly devastated…
As it turns out that the general sale was canceled, leaving thousands empty-handed.
“Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been canceled,” tweeted the company.
They reported that over 2 million fans have already bagged tickets during the 2 presales.
It means that the only ticket sales went to fans who bagged a code to enter the verified fans presale, or Capital One cardholders.
Furthermore, fans have criticized the site’s handling of the situation, as despite claims of the presale being for “verified fans”, tickets have quickly appeared on resale sites for insane prices.
In fact, Swift is so much in demand that resale tickets are now selling for as much as $95,000!
The incredible increase in cost due to scalpers has left some fans disgruntled.
One fan took to TikTok to vent her frustrations…
The fan said that Swift owes her a “massive apology” for the “absolute carnage and bloodbath” that was trying to get tickets in the presales.
“You can’t tell me that Ticketmaster and Taylor and her team don’t get a part of the percentage from those resold tickets,” she said.
“That is why they don’t stop the resellers.”
“Everybody wins in this but the fans,” she said.
Swift herself has responded to the controversy with a statement shared on her Instagram story, as per UNILAD.
“There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward,” she wrote.
“I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could.”
“It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets but it really p*ssed me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.
“And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs,” she added.
But following all of this drama, Swift has been hit with another controversy.
She has been accused of practicing witchcraft on stage during her Eras tour …
A video of a rather ritualistic-looking dance routine has taken TikTok by storm.
Take a look right here.
“This is Taylor Swift’s song ‘Willow’ where she is a witch during rituals,” the woman said.
“The first video you saw was taken by a fan the other night at the concert and he says, ‘yes, summon the demons b***h!'”
“So what she’s saying is ‘summon the demons’ is the new crowd chant that they all say when she does his witchcraft ritual.
The woman also accused Swift of “shoving witchcraft and rituals, crystals, astrology and all that down our throats.”
Swift has made jokes about witchcraft in the past.
She has previously said her song ‘Willow’ ‘sounds like casting a spell to make someone fall in love with you’.
Plus, in her song ‘Mad Woman’ she sings: “Women like hunting witches too. Doing your dirtiest work for you.”
“They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one,” she also sings in the 2017 song ‘I Did Something Bad’.
But alongside the controversy, Swift has also been congratulated.
The star stopped mid-way through her performance of Bad Blood on Saturday, to yell at one of her security guards.
In a now viral video, Swift could be seen calling out the security guy, who was seen waving his hands at an enthused young admirer.
Internet sleuths now think they have solved the puzzle and identified the precise moment that prompted Taylor to interfere. Fans realised that the security guard’s treatment of a female fan was what initially sparked her rage.
Witnesses claim that when the guard attempted to stop the fan bouncing around, the pop singer yelled at him.
“Hey, stop!” she could be heard shouting, adding: “She wasn’t doing anything!”
He was then escorted out of the building by other members of security.
The fan that recorded the incident said: “Also for everyone’s reference – the same security guard had been giving those girls trouble all night if they got close to barricade.”
While another witness said: “Taylor was yelling at a security guard because they fully kept putting their hands on us to physically push us off of the barricade instead of just telling us to move.
“We weren’t throwing anything, we weren’t screaming anything insane, she was fully coming over to dance and sing with us and it resulted in security being extremely aggressive for no reason.”
The video has been shared on Twitter, where it went viral, with one viewer writing: “I could watch this over and over. Taylor defending fans makes me so happy!!”
You can watch the moment here.
Soon after, the Swiftie in question actually spoke out on what happened.
Kelly Inglis hopped on her friend’s TikTok to explain the situation.
“I was the girl that Taylor talked to last night. Basically, the guard had been harassing our group all night, just to like…he just kept telling us not to touch the rail, and like anytime we did anything he was on top of us.
“We’re dancing, we’re having fun, and he didn’t like it. And Taylor noticed that I was having fun and that he didn’t like it, and she didn’t like it, and then he basically, like, got escorted out. And then they offered us free tickets for tonight.”
She added, “It wasn’t this big crazy thing, it was just a bunch of girls having a good time and he didn’t want us to have fun.”
But following a run of sold-out tour dates, some Taylor Swift fans have noticed a bizarre phenomenon.
“Post-concert amnesia is real,” Jenna Tocatlian, 25, told Time Magazine.
“It’s hard to put together what you actually witness,” she said. “You’re having all these emotions while your favorite songs are playing, and you’re like, ‘Wow, where am I?’”
“If I didn’t have the five-minute video that my friend kindly took of me jamming to it, I probably would have told everyone that it didn’t happen.”
Another fan, Nicole Booz, 32, described it as “an out-of-body experience, as though it didn’t really happen to me.”
“Yet I know it did, because my bank account took a $950 hit to cover the ticket.”
And now, Neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett has spoken to the Daily Mail about the phenomenon.
“If you’re at a concert of someone you love, surrounded by thousands of very excited other people, listening to music you’ve got established emotional links to, that’s going to be a lot of emotion happening to you at one time.”
“As well as being exhausting for the brain, it’s going to mean all the things you experience will have a high emotional quality, which means nothing “stands out”, and that’s important if you want to retrieve a memory later.”
One woman said: “The amount of stress and time it took me to get Taylor Swift tickets, I will be getting an adult diaper because I am not missing a minute of it.”
Another said: “The diaper rash and trench foot was worth this moment of Taylor looking right at us.”
But it seems the Eras tour has been worth it, for Taylor.
As she’s now the second richest self-made woman in music!
She’s now worth an estimated $740 million, according to Forbes.
Overtaking Madonna, who reportedly has a net worth of $580 million, as well as Beyoncé at $540 million.
However, she’s still behind Rihanna, who has an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion.
Another story from the Eras tour went viral.
A woman called Susan called into the Country Mornings with Ayla Brown to tell all …
She’d spent $4,500 on tickets for the show.
“I really wanted to go big. I mean, she’s turning 19. Like, we’re getting closer as friends, not just mother-daughter. So I gave them to her.”
“You know, I thought I was going to go,” she continued. “I thought she was going to invite me.”
However, the daughter asked her friend to come instead.
“God, I was so hurt. I was so hurt,” she said.
“She has the audacity that day to say, ‘Hey, Mom, can you drive Casey and me to the show?’ ” she continued.
Susan told her daughter: “You know, I have my own friend, and I’m going to go do stuff with her. And you two have a great time.”
The host Ayla Brown then put a poll on Twitter asking who was in the right.
It was a close-run thing, but eventually the internet took the mom’s side.
One of Taylor’s fans has recently gone viral.
Isaac Jarman posted a TikTok sharing the incredible price he managed to resell his Swift ticket for.
“I wish I could be there but also 14k is pretty nice too,” he joked, before saying the buyer had, “literally paid for my college tuition.”
You can see the viral vid right here …
And according to a report to a report from Hits Daily Double, Taylor Swift has turned down the Super Bowl!
“Taylor Swift, who would be a logical choice given her mind-blowingly successful year, has supposedly passed,” the report states.
“We don’t know if this is just spin from Swift Nation HQ and she wants a big check from the NFL rather than incurring the substantial cost of mounting the show.”
But it seems some Taylor fans have had enough.
As her constant re-releases of limited edition vinyls are being called money-grabbing.
In the past few days, she’s dropped the Sunrise Boulevard and Aquamarine Green editions of 1989.
Each of the vinyls have been listed on Taylor’s official store for $31.89.
And one fan called the move a “shameless cash grab.”
“I’m actually getting annoyed she keeps doing this,” another added.
While a third wrote: “The capitalist era will never end, will it.”
A fourth agreed: “I cannot deal with the money grabbing feel.”
Another warned fans: “Whoever needs to hear this: not buying every single copy of every single album doesn’t make you any less of a fan. Please spend your money wisely.”
Taylor has also gone viral for her love life recently …
She’s reportedly “hanging out” with an NFL star, as per Page Six.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce!
“Taylor and Travis have been quietly hanging out,” an insider told the outlet.
“She saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago.”
Taylor has not yet commented, but Travis has fuelled the rumors …
“Um, yeah we are not going to bring up Taylor Swift in this episode,” Travis laughed in the most recent episode of his New Heights podcast.
Despite Travis being tight lipped on their alleged romance, it hasn’t stopped people talking.
And recently, during the Kansas City Chiefs latest game, the announcer made a pretty hilarious pun.
After Travis caught a pass in the end zone, announcer Ian Eagle said: “Kelce finds a blank space for the score.”
Obviously fans picked up on the reference, and dozens commented online, with one writing: “I see what y’all did there.”
While another commented: “Love the Taylor Swift References.”
A video of the pair has got fans going wild.
Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, a video was uploaded showing Taylor and Travis in the locker room together.
They appeared to be getting along pretty well.
This is the first sighting of the pair together.
Taylor was seen supporting the athlete while sporting the colors of his team during his recent game.
After which they hit the locker room, and fans have since been going wild online.
“I love that she is in a healthy relationship. She deserves it!” one wrote.
While another simply said: “Historical document.”
You can see the video here.
This new relationship had fans asking one major question.
Who has Travis Kelce dated before?
Well, there are three major past flames in his life …
Maya Benberry
The pair met on E! dating reality show titled, “Chasing Kelce,” in 2016. Benberry won the contest and dated Kelce for several months before they split …
Kayla Nicole
Kelce dated the sports broadcaster and model from 2017 to May 2022. They’d split before in 2020, but called in quits for good two years later for undisclosed reasons.
Zuri Hall
“Access Hollywood” correspondent Zuri Hall was spotted sitting in his family’s suite at a Chiefs game in November 2022. It doesn’t look like it got serious, and neither has ever addressed the fling.
And now, Taylor Swift!
But fans have pointed out one major discrepancy in the pair’s relationship.
How much money they each make!
As according to Bloomberg, Swift earns a staggering $13 million from ticket sales for every night of her Eras tour.
While Kelce earns $12.3 million annually as the tight end for the Chiefs.
Kelce’s ex Maya Benberry has issued Taylor with a stark warning …
“Once a cheater always a cheater,” Benberry told the Daily Mail.
“Taylor seems like such a fun girl with a beautiful spirit so I wish her the best of luck but I wouldn’t be a girls’ girl if I didn’t advise her to be smart,” she went on.
“I’m sure by now she has mastered the ability to see who is really there for her — and who is just using her,” she concluded.
But Kelce has hit back, and addressed his future with Taylor.
“Shoutout to Taylor for pulling up, that was pretty ballsy,” he said on his latest podcast ep.
“I just thought it was awesome how everyone in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her. You know, the friends and family. She looked amazing, everybody was talking about her in great light.”
“And on top of that, the day went perfect for Chiefs fans, of course,” he added, referring to how his team won. “It was just impressive.”
Adding: “And then we just slid off in the getaway car at the end. Took my Cheville to the game…Shoutout to Taylor for coming through and seeing me rock the stage.”
He concluded that he’s “enjoying life” and “sure as hell enjoyed this weekend.”
Shortly after, a picture of the pair indulging in some PDA has been released online.
You can see it on TMZ.
Another video has surfaced, showing Swift discussing Kelce with Blake Lively.
Before Travis Kelce’s victory over the New York Jets on Sunday night, Taylor was seen gushing over her alleged new boo.
Taylor was joined in the stadium with Sophie Turner, Blake Lively, Sabrina Carpenter, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
The video showed Taylor mimicking Kelce and making some seemingly flirty comments about him to Lively.
“Oh she’s smitten,” one fan wrote on the video, which was uploaded to Instagram by Deuxmoi.
While another said: “She literally can’t believe she’s with the hottest athlete.”
Taylor has sent another message to Kelce, via her clothing choices!
She’s been spotted in a tee bearing the title and promotional art for Shania Twain’s 1995 megahit “Any Man Of Mine.”
The song has lyrics including: “I can be late for a date — that’s fine
/ But he’d better be on time” and, “When I cook him dinner and I burn it black / He’d better say, ‘Mmmm, I like it like that.’”
Basically, any man of Taylor’s must accept her, flaws and all!
Do you think she was sending Kelce a message?
But many are concerned that this relationship is a huge gamble for Kelce.
Since the relationship rumors began, Kelce gained 860,000 followers on Instagram.
This is a bigger jump than any of the Super Bowls Kelce has played.
Kelce’s jersey had a 400% spike in sales.
Some are concerned that this sudden rise to fame could spell disaster for Kelce.
Kelce has spoken out about the NFL’s coverage of his relationship …
“I think it’s fun when they show who all is at the game,” Travis said on his latest podcast episode. “I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching.”
“But at the same time, I think they’re overdoing it a little bit for sure. Especially my situation.”
And now, the NFL has hit back!
Their statement read: “We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally.”
“The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real-time, as it’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport.”
“The vast majority of our content has remained focused on the game, our players and a variety of other initiatives, including our Toy Story Funday Football alt-cast, the international games and more,” it concluded.
The NFL has received more backlash from fans.
Fans thought the Chiefs escaped punishment in their game against the Vikings, which also saw a player taking off his helmet on the pitch and a pass interference call.
One wrote: “Refs just saved the Taylor Swifts. That was Pass I and obviously should’ve been a helmet-off penalty.”
While another said: “Chiefs got away with pass interference AND defensive back removing helmet to question the call. #SwiftEffect.”
Kelly Clarkson has also defended the comments she made against the NFL.
It seems she also wants the focus to be back on the game rather than Swift.
Swifties have been obsessed with catching a glimpse of Taylor in the crowd…
With the camera panning onto the singer multiple times during recent games.
Kelly opened up about her feelings on this, telling Page Six: “It’s not hilarious how it is literally taking over the NFL for people that like watching sports now. It’s like you’re watching ‘Housewives’ while you’re watching.”
She added that commentators are now “just talking about gossip things”, adding: “And you’re like, ‘So, what about the play?'”, joking: “They’re taking over.”
After her comments went viral, Kelly took to social media to address them, writing: “Just a quick public service announcement everybody since this seems to be breaking news… Do not fall prey to clickbait, trash reporters twisting the facts again.
“I did not bash anyone’s romance. I am pro romance. Yay romance. Did y’all even watch what I actually said on my show?
“I said just said I want to watch football when I tune in to watch football. Seems an appropriate request.”
But now, fans are also critiquing the NFL for their racial bias.
One user said, “Dear @NFL since y’all was so giddy showing Taylor Swift’s ass every time the Chiefs play home games, then you should be just as excited to show off Simone Biles at Packers home games.”
Another wrote, “I wonder why the @NFL covers Taylor Swift dating a player but never covers Simone Biles dating a player. Oh, that’s right. She’s black.”
Another said, “Simone Biles should get just as much hype as Taylor Swift for being at an NFL game to support her man.”
Do you agree?