Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been falsely accused of a laundry list of absurdities: Doing “satanic rituals” at her shows. Being a government “psyop.” But this time, the news about her is true: She’s engaged to be married.
Swift posted a series of photos on Instagram Aug. 26, showing her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is also no stranger to being targeted by misinformation. Even Kelce’s father, Ed, has occasionally fallen for false headlines about the couple.
We looked back at their love story through the lens of claims that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve been true, but weren’t.
Swift wasn’t banned from Chiefs games
Rumors of a Swift-Kelce romance began in August 2023, and proved true the following month when Swift attended a Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears.
Since then, social media posts have often falsely declared that Swift was banned from football games. One June 2024 variation said conservative commentator Candace Owens tried to ban Swift from the NFL because of being “awfully woke,” but that originated with satire.
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A year after Swift started attending Chiefs games, Facebook posts broke what seemed like the salacious news that Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid criticized Swift for not being a “good role model.” And another Facebook post said the Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt banned Swift from attending games, supposedly calling her the team’s “biggest distraction.”
But these claims appeared on satire pages, too, and were reshared without that context. Reid had previously praised Swift, saying he thinks her relationship with Kelce was “great for him,” and Hunt said the two make a “fantastic couple.” We rated the claims False.
Swift and Kelce didn’t respond to controversial Elon Musk statement
During the 2024 presidential election, Swift endorsed Democratic nominee and then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which elicited a controversial reaction from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, then a supporter of Republican candidate Donald Trump.
“Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life,” Musk wrote in a Sept. 11, 2024, X post.
Social media posts got in on the action, proclaiming that Kelce then threatened that he could “twist (Musk) into a pretzel.” But PolitiFact found no evidence Kelce made such a post.
A separate claim said Swift responded to Musk’s post by saying she’s happy to take Musk’s estranged transgender daughter and “give her all the love and respect she deserves.” But our sweep of Swift’s social media statements showed the superstar didn’t say that.
Another claim in November 2024 said Kelce announced he was leaving X, which Musk owns, calling it Musk’s “hate machine” and a “‘toxic waste dump’ after his scathing and hurtful comments about Taylor Swift.” We found no such announcement from Kelce, either.
Claims circulated about Swift’s politics and relationships with other celebrities
In October 2024, a Facebook post said Swift broke down, apologizing and asking Kelce for forgiveness as she admitted to “having done immoral things” with disgraced music magnate Sean “Diddy” Combs. But we found no news reports, statements or interview footage that prove she said that.
In February, the Chiefs faced off with the Philadelphia Eagles for Super Bowl LIX, which the Eagles won. But days before the game, a rumor circulated that Swift was banned from attending, because she was “distracting and woke.” But there was no proof of that. On game day, Swift, a Pennsylvania native, was in attendance, enduring boos from the crowd.
Social media users also said Trump weighed in on Swift’s and Kelce’s relationship on the day of the Super Bowl, supposedly writing on Truth Social that Swift’s presence was a “distraction for Travis Kelce.” That was a fake post, although Trump had posted about Swift numerous times, including about her support of his Democratic rivals.
In June, when “No Kings” rallies popped up across the country protesting Trump and his administration, social media posts shared photos that they said showed the couple joining in. We rated those claims Pants on Fire!