As they say, “The haters gonna hate, hate, hate.” And the newest celebrity couple to hate seems to be Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Kelce, the legendary tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Swift, possibly the most famous singer (if not person) in the world currently, are drawing ire from some conservatives. And it’s not just because people are annoyed that sitting with Kelce’s mom during NFL games is drawing too much attention away from the on-field play, which has caused the NFL to defend their coverage of the star.
While Taylor Swift’s appearance at every Chiefs game is a new phenomenon, the courtship began in the summer. Travis Kelce attended Taylor Swift’s Eras concert in July and tried to give her a friendship bracelet with his number on it. He later invited her to an NFL game at the same stadium. Most people thought that he shot his shot, and it was over until the pair were linked romantically officially a few weeks ago.
You’re probably wondering why this celebrity couple is rubbing people the wrong way. And it all goes back to Bud Light. As you may or may not know, Bud Light has been boycotted for the last year by many on the right after it partnered with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Partly due to this lightning rod of a partnership, the iconic beer brand has lost more than 26% of its sales compared to last August.
Two words: Friendship. Chains.
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— Bud Light (@budlight) October 2, 2023
But what do Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have to do with the Bud Light boycott? Well, you must not watch much football. If you do, you’d see that not only does the star tight end endorse Bud Light, but he also endorses Pfizer’s COVID booster. That’s like a two-fer in terms of annoying the far-right. Take a moment to search for Travis Kelce on X, formerly called Twitter, and you’ll find that there are quite a lot of angry people ranting about his endorsement of both brands — one doesn’t have to go far in the comments of Bud Light and Travis Kelce’s most recent collaboration to see that.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxgXyUHxv4H/
For those who haven’t seen the Pfizer ad, it features Kelce as he claims life is better when you do “Two Things at Once’. While he’s referencing getting the COVID shot and the flu shot at the same time, the humorous commercial shows the NFL player showing off his two Super Bowl rings, riding on a lawnmower while also grilling, among other strange pairings. It ends with a shot of Kelce showing off two band-aids, referencing that he received both shots.
It didn’t help that conservative journalist Megyn Kelly took to her YouTube channel to draw attention to the two brands Kelce endorses. She also called out Taylor Swift’s involvement with him.
“He’s super woke. He’s with Taylor, he endorsed Bud Light post-controversy, and he’s pushing the Pfizer vax,” she said.
Right-wing pundit Tomi Lahren also brought Taylor Swift into it, posting a comment in response to Kelce’s Pfizer ad on Twitter: “Is this what happens when you date Taylor Swift?”
Even without his pairing with T-Swift, Kelce likely already knew he was going to anger some of his football-viewing audience (and others) when he endorsed both products, and clearly, it doesn’t seem to bother him. We just don’t know why Swift got dragged into this controversy, as Kelce obviously filmed both commercials well before meeting her. Why you gotta be so mean?
