Travis Kelce arguably became the most recognizable player in the National Football League when Taylor Swift showed up on Sept. 24 to sit with his mom while the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Chicago Bears.
The two have been rumored to be dating since Kelce expressed his interest in the singer on a social-media page. Arguably the biggest star in the world (sorry, Beyonce, BTS, and Harry Styles), Swift has been on a long stadium concert tour that has smashed records.
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She's a savvy businessperson who has turned past relationships with John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Jonas into hit songs. Swift has also mastered the media-coverage cycle, and with a film version of her "Eras" tour headed to theaters in October, it's not a bad time for her to increase her public profile.
It's hard to know whether Swift and Kelce are beginning to date, dating or just making themselves more famous with a carefully planned public flirtation. In reality it doesn't matter because real relationships often don't work out and fake ones have an odd way of becoming real.
Both Swift and Kelce have huge fan bases, but nobody is loved by everyone. Now, a number of right-wing media stars have gone after Kelce for his endorsements of both Anheuser-Busch and Pfizer (PFE) -), and some are questioning Swift's role in those choices.
Image source: USAToday Sports
Kelce and Swift in woke-war crosshairs
Bud Light, as you may know, has been the target of a massive right-wing boycott since the Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) brand partnered with the transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. It was a small deal, but it became a call to action for some conservatives and the boycott has been damaging.
The beer brand has lost about 26% of its sales while dropping from its long-held spot as the top-selling beer in the U.S. Having an effective boycott, something that rarely happens, has emboldened the anti-Bud-Light crowd to go after other targets.
Kelce, who appeared in a recent Bud Light ad while also appearing in an online campaign to encourage people to get Pfizer's covid booster, finds himself a target of right-wing media. His relationship with Swift, who has spoken out against right-wing candidates and policies, has amplified those attacks.
“He’s super woke. He’s with Taylor, he endorsed Bud Light post-controversy, and he’s pushing the Pfizer vax,” the former Fox News host Megyn Kelly said on her YouTube channel.
Tomi Lahren, a right-wing pundit, took issue with Kelce supporting covid vaccines, sharing a post from far-right media site OutKick, which accused Kelce of selling out to Pfizer.
“Is this what happens when you date Taylor Swift?” she wrote,
Kelce turned off the comments on his post, but X, formerly Twitter, has no shortage of attacks on the NFL player for his Pfizer and Bud Light ads, many of which blame what they call his woke stands on Swift.
Right-wing activists oppose Bud Light and covid vaccines
The Bud Light boycott started and continues largely because the brand opted to partner with Mulvaney to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community.
Some boycotters also cite comments made by the brands' former Bud Light marketing vice president, Alissa Heinerscheid, calling the brand's customers "fratty," but the boycott truly kicked in after Kid Rock called out the Mulvaney promotion on social media.
Some right-wing media members, pundits and activists have also taken a stand against covid vaccines, claiming they are dangerous. Those claims have been widely debunked.
In his online spot promoting vaccines, Kelce urges people to get the covid booster and a flu shot at the same time. That's the current recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And while Swift has been blamed on social media for turning Kelce woke, his Bud Light ad actually appeared before the two met.
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