Travis Kelce’s engagement to Taylor Swift should have been a fairy-tale moment, but social media backlash has turned it into controversy. The Kansas City Chiefs star is now facing accusations of racism after fans resurfaced his past relationship with ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole and compared her to Swift.
On Tuesday, August 26, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post, sharing dreamy photos of themselves that fans noticed looked strikingly similar to the photoshoot set from the “Lover” album. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift captioned, adding a lit dynamite emoji.
Hours after the announcement, Kelce’s ex, sports reporter and on-air host Kayla Nicole, posted a telling Instagram Story. She reshared a clip of actress Tracee Ellis Ross speaking about the power of joy, writing, “Read about this very concept years ago in a book called ‘Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough.’ I aspire! So so good.”
Travis Kelce Faces Backlash After His Engagement To Taylor Swift
Shortly after, criticism erupted online, with some X (formerly Twitter) users accusing Kelce of racism for choosing Swift over Nicole. A viral post featuring side-by-side photos of Nicole and Swift included a caption reading, “Us queens can look however good we please, but at the end of the day, the racist white boys will always go back to their ironing board blondes.”
This sparked a flood of heated responses. One user defended Travis Kelce, writing, “His ex bad af but to call him racist is a crazy level of insecurity.” Another chimed in, “Fans are weird.” Others, however, echoed the criticism. “One of them is so successful she has as much money as an actual Queen… and that is just stupid. And racist af as well,” one person tweeted. Meanwhile, some simply mocked the discourse, “Bro maybe she sucked as a human, has anybody considered that,” one user wrote.
While the accusations have stirred debate, neither Kelce nor Swift has publicly responded. For now, the couple seems focused on celebrating their engagement, while Nicole continues to emphasize positivity and personal growth.
