Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's relationship has been a topic of widespread conversation. At this point, they've been together for almost three years and have been endlessly supportive of each other's accomplishments and career highs. Notably, Swift has been a frequent attendee at Chiefs games, and Kelce attended shows amid the Eras Tour, even appearing on stage at one point. It’s no surprise that he also was on set to support his partner on the set of the “Fortnight” music video. One of the stars of the music video, Josh Charles even called him a "dick" while on set, but for a funny reason.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” video takes place in a mental hospital, where she is being “tortured” by flashbacks of a failed relationship. The scientists at the hospital are played by Dead Poets Society stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles. This acts as a reference to Swift’s album title “Tortured Poets Department” which is, partially, an homage to the movie title that made both Hawke and Charles famous. You can see an image of their appearance in the music video below:
It’s a great reference point, and both Hawke and Charles have been gracious when talking about their experience working on the music video, even if Hawke’s daughters weren’t impressed. However, Charles may not have been as gracious towards her beau, Travis Kelce, whose football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, beat the Baltimore Ravens in the NFC championship game that year. Apparently, Kelce was a bit cocky during the game, and longtime Ravens fan Charles saw this as an opportunity to confront him. He said on The Tonight Show:
It wasn’t a fight. I’ve always liked Travis Kelce. I thought he was so cool, but that year that they beat us in the NFC Championship game, they beat the Ravens, he was a real jerk that year. So, I kind of fell off of him.
Even though Kelce’s attitude threw him off, it’s pretty clear Charles still had a lot of respect for the NFL tight end. When Charles confronted him about being a dick at that game, Kelce took it all in stride and had a great sense of humor about the whole situation. He was honest about playing a little dirty during that game, getting into the heads of the players. One Ravens player even got a personal foul for coming for Kelce after a play. Charles said of the interaction:
So, when I met him, I said, ‘You know I’ve always liked you, and this year you were kind of a D-i-c-k.’ I did, I said, ‘What was up with that?’ And he laughed. He was like, ‘You know what, you’re right. I’m gonna tell you why, because we marked down that game against your team as like, if we could win that game, we were most worried about that game, I knew [it would work out]. So, I had to come in with some swagger. And he did.
Ultimately, there's no “Bad Blood” between these two. This is just a case of two football lovers razzing each other. Kelce clearly got a kick out of the whole thing and wasn’t mad at all when Charles confronted him. I kinda admire the boldness from the actor and, as a longtime football fan myself, this seems like a pretty typical interaction between supporters of opposing teams. I’d love to see these two watch an actual game together (one where Kelce isn’t playing, of course), and see the competitive energy and banter really come out.
For now, see Josh Charles alongside Ethan Hawke in Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” music video, which is available to check out on YouTube. Also, check out Charles in his new show Best Medicine, which is currently streaming with a Hulu subscription. The Chiefs' football season is over, but you can see Travis Kelce make his acting debut in Grotesquerie, which is also available on Hulu.
