Taylor Swift. We all know her, most of us love her, but there are some who have been throwing shade her way recently. This is largely because of herĀ appearancesĀ at the Kansas City Chiefs games in support of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.Ā The media has largely been covering this along with the Swifties (because it is all over my TikTok for you page and Instagram feed). While there are many who are in support of this relationship, there are definitely people who have been not so happy with this series of events.
On Sept. 24, 2023, Swift was seen at her first Chiefs game after months of dating rumors, which stemmed from Kelce talking about her on his podcast,Ā New Heights, with his brother Jason Kelce. He mentioned that he wanted to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it atĀ The Eras TourĀ concert but was unable to since she doesn’t do meet and greets before or after the show.
Some fans were excited about her new relationship and football debut, with aĀ 400% spike in Travis Kelceās jersey salesĀ and him gaining millions of followers on social media. However, others were less excited, to say the least. NFL fansĀ took to X, formerly Twitter,Ā andĀ “Enough Taylor Swift”Ā began trending. Not only were football fans showing this hate towards the pop star, but even political commentators got involved! OneĀ political commentatorĀ posted “The wall-to-wall coverage of Taylor Swift at this game is annoying AF. I donāt even like football and I agree itās destroying [it]. Just enough.” Some even went as far as to say thatĀ the referee decisions were all part of a schemeĀ to keep the Chiefsā winning streak for Swift and to boost the teamās income.Ā OneĀ XĀ user mentions how it was āBusiness 101ā and that itās not a conspiracy theory because of the increase in sales after her appearance.Ā
While there were many people hating on Taylor Swift, some not even fans or football enthusiasts, there was also a herd of people that had Swiftās back. One,Ā in response to the commentator’s post, says, “I do like football and shots of Taylor Swift do the game no harm. If not her, they’d show cutaways of drunk idiots painted in colors of teams whose players don’t care about them. But since you don’t even like football, why does this bother you? #fakeoutrage.” Another posted onĀ X, defending Swift āThe Taylor Swift hate train for simply supporting her boyfriend is lame.ā The user also mentions that she is āone of the biggest stars in the worldā and that people shouldnāt be surprised they are showing her on camera. She has a large fanbase, so itās no shock that many are coming to her defense.
With her being such a big star, she always has cameras on her, whether she wants them on her or not. In theĀ Timeās Person of the Year article, Swift mentions that she doesnāt even know how they found her in the suite or knew which one she was in. The camera was half a mile away, so she couldnātĀ seeĀ if they hadĀ broadcastedĀ her 17 times or only once. While some people may feel bad for offending or infuriating the football fans, she simply stated that she is there to support Travis and has āno awareness of if [sheās] being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.āĀ
Now, after the first few games one would think that comments would start to die down, right?Ā Wrong.Ā At the 2024 Golden Globes, where Swift was nominated for herĀ Taylor Swift: The Eras TourĀ concert film, the host, Jo Koy made a joke saying: āThe big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.ā This wasnāt even on social media! It was on live television at a prestigious award ceremony. Meanwhile,Ā other celebritiesĀ such asĀ Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Mark WahlbergĀ have made appearances at football games and have not received the backlash that Swift has.Ā AnĀ XĀ user even pointed this out saying, āIf a famous man goes to a football game and the cameras show him itās ok because heās a fan. But if Taylor Swift goes to a Chiefs game itās bad because she only cares about publicity, but if she doesnāt go it means that she is an awful girlfriend who doesnāt support her man.ā The double standards are just hitting you in the face at this point, and yet weĀ stillĀ have people making these types of comments.
At theĀ Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills, both Taylor Swift and Jason Kelce were seen in the private suite. There were many TikToks of Jason jumping out of the suite and yelling about the game in excitement. One post from theĀ Daily MailĀ showed this and was captionedĀ āJason Kelce stole the limelight from Taylor Swift as he celebrated his brother Travisā win with shirtless beer-chugging at Highmark Stadiumā¦āĀ Now, I may be wrong here, but what was the point in mentioning Swift at all in this statement? She is nowhere to be seen in this particular video. While she is just trying to have fun and support her boyfriend at a game, she is being drawn into places that donāt even involve her. AnotherĀ TikTokĀ compared the difference between how people reacted to Jason and Swift at the games. The user showed a picture of Jason shirtless and yelling and said, āThis is totally fine. Hilarious. Oh my gosh, we love himā¦Keep him on the screen.ā They then showed a picture of Swift simply having a good time, hanging out with the wives and girlfriends of the NFL players, and instead said āGet that woman off the screen right now! How dare you keep showing her! How dare she have any connection to a player on the team! Why are we showing her on the screen?āĀ The latter part is satirical because he later says that there are double standards, especially when it comes to her.Ā Comments on the TikTok video went on to say that Jason jumped out of the suite to prove a point, but this is just theory.
There are so many examples of this double standard. Letās talk about dating histories. Travis Kelce hasnāt had the most tame history with theĀ multiple cheating allegations, but we donāt hear everyone using this as ammo against him now, right? Well, Swift still gets hate thrown at her about her dating life. In her speech after receiving theĀ Billboard Award for Woman of the DecadeĀ in 2019, she states: āTheyāre saying Iām dating too much in my 20s? Okay, Iāll stop, Iāll just be single. For years ā¦ Now itās that Iām showing you too many pictures of me with my friends, okay, I can stop doing that too. Now Iām actually a calculated manipulator rather than a smart businesswoman?ā There are so many more misogynistic examples that she mentions and how difficult it truly is to be a woman in theĀ world. Her history with the media highlights how much harder women must work in the entertainment industry to reach the same heights as their male counterparts.Ā There was also anĀ XĀ user who posted: āAh yes, women enjoying their time at a football game is such a radical conceptā¦ā in response to the post: āIs there anything more annoying than Taylor Swift at a football game?ā The double standards are baffling.Ā
Now, with the AFC Championship complete, the Chiefs have defeated the Baltimore RavensĀ lending them a spot in Super Bowl LVIII against the 49ers.Ā The Chiefs and 49ers have a Super Bowl history having met in 2020, so they are no strangers to competing against one another.Ā While both teams have wins under their belts, Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback, and Travis Kelce have played in three Super Bowls and won two in the past 5 seasons.Ā If the Chiefs win the 2024 Super Bowl, they will be the first team to haveĀ two consecutive wins in about 20 years.Ā This hasnāt been done since Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005Ā respectively.Ā With all these stats in mind, letās remember who was in attendance for this AFC Championship win, which is allowing the Chiefs to compete in the Super Bowl game. Thatās right, Taylor Swift.
There are headlines saying:Ā āHas Taylor Swift cursed the Chiefs? Inside Kansas City’s record since pop star, Travis Kelce started dating.āĀ This specific article doesnāt say that she is, but for an article to have a headline saying she is a ācurseā even though out of the seven games she attended,Ā they have only lost two. Thatās right! Two games and she is a curse.Ā Early in the season, Travis Kelce had a minor injury and anĀ XĀ user posted: āNot football fans already tweeting that Travisā injury is [a] āTaylor curseā while sheās literally not there and they won both times she was at the gameā¦ā She was at the AFC championship where the ChiefsĀ won the gameĀ and are now going to the Super Bowl! So howĀ much of a ācurseā is she if they won one of the most important games of the season with her in attendance? If she truly was a ācurse,ā then wouldnāt they have lost more than two games when she was there? The Chiefs won the AFC Championship with Swift present and are now headed to the Super Bowl ā obviously she is a curse!
So many people hate on others when they are just trying to support and be there for the ones they love.Ā Misogyny will always find its way in life and it seems like there is just no winning with people who have a distaste for successful women.Ā From online comments to jokes made by award show hosts, there will always be negativity towards Taylor Swift.Ā For what reason? I do not know, but we should support people rather than try to tear them down.Ā Luckily, for those who do support her, there are so manyĀ pictures of them being cute AFĀ at the AFC Championship to obsess over before the Super Bowl comes around.