There are many of us, on social media, who follow someone(s) in the entertainment world closet. Often these celebrities are part of the traditional performing arts and are found in the music or acting professions. But particularly over the last ten years, as talent and news agencies have merged, diversified and globalized, others have found it necessary to follow many celebrities and public figures across multiple entertainment industries, especially into the high-profile world of professional sports.
In other words, in case anyone hasn't noticed yet, there's an increasing frequency of crossing beams when it comes to professional sports and the acting/recording industries. What Methodical Muser likes to call, not just cross-fertilization, but cross-contamination.
Without a doubt, there's a huge beam-crossing going on right now and everyone's got something to say about it, including the huge mantra that this highly publicized "relationship" is strictly for "PR" purposes.
Lots of different voices have been chiming in since August, and it can be a veritable minefield trying to navigate through all of this chatter, some of which seem to have come from out of nowhere and some from familiar, trusted sources with great influence.
If it's not apparent by now, that highly publicized "relationship" would be the one between two accomplished and superstar performers in their own respective fields - the NFL's Travis Kelce and the music industry's, Taylor Swift.
In brief, there's no denying Travis has been benefiting from the fauxmance, both financially and publicity-wise. Narnia has heard over 1000 times already - how jersey sales are up, how he's in some new broadcast commercial every time you turn around. Then there's the highly lucrative Pfizer deal, name recognition, media coverage, etc.
But has anyone looked behind the curtain and stopped to think that it's highly probable that much of this shift in his celebrity status is part of his compensation, up-front. Because whenever this contract ends, he is going to be the one shredded in the media. Storytelling always has a villain. And it certainly is not going to be Time's Person of the Year.
What's not being said enough is that Travis Michael Kelce was ALREADY highly successful before Taylor Swift even came along.
• His and Jason's New Heights podcast show immediately shot up the charts after its successful debut in September 2022. The December 1, 2022 Episode with Patrick Mahomes had 3.4 million viewers. In April 2023, Shannon Sharpe's Episode brought in 2.1 million viewers. Through most of last year, their show became the number 1 sports podcast in the nation and the top 5 overall podcast for most of the 2022 NFL season.
• Travis and Patrick Mahomes have been so successful, since the latter catapulted into the spotlight in his first full season as the Kansas City Chief's quarterback (2018-19), that their New England Patriot counterparts, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, have had their fans vehemently arguing and trolling on Twitter since both men became a threat to Brady/Gronkowski records almost immediately. After his initial full season as a starter, Patrick Mahomes became the NFL's MVP for the first time.
• Travis has been a successful entrepreneur for many years. He's owned his own clothing line, is a business partner in co-owning Club Car Wash, and has his own local endorsements from popular food and grocers establishments. He is a philanthropist who is known for his generosity and inclusiveness, in addition to having his own non-profit Foundation with Eighty-Seven and Running.
This all was before Taylor Swift even knew who he was.
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| Nov 9, 2022 |
• Yes, Travis is 34 years old. Of course, he's been planning for his retirement, like any other NFL player at his age. The Kansas City sports talk community, and local fans have been concerned about this eventuality for the past couple of seasons and have wanted the Chiefs to draft a tight end so that Travis has time to mentor him. (Unfortunately, in this year's draft, there were several promising TE's, but they were taken by the time the Chiefs' pick selection.)
What's totally out of character is that Travis has not talked about retiring anytime soon but suddenly the recent Wall Street Journal "interview" comes along and it's on his mind more than people would think? Where did this come from? During the Chief's training camp [July 23 to August 17, 2023] when the contract between Swift and Travis had already been signed (because that's how these arrangement work), he said he planned on playing "until the wheels fall off". So, if anyone wants to conjure up the idea that Swift would be responsible for this 180° turn around and that he's suddenly in a hurry to jump start his post-NFL career, then they haven't followed Travis for very long.
For the sake of keeping this brief and the plan to expand in further detail in future posts, this author is going to say that I have followed this team for years, even used to be a season ticket holder. Lived in this area my whole life.
And Methodical Muser and I have closely followed Travis and Patrick Mahomes since Patrick became a starter in the 2018-19 season. Moreover, anyone even slightly familiar with our blogging history and credentials related to closeted celebrities, are well aware of our extensive knowledge of two of Swift's previous fauxmances with Jake Gyllenhaal and Harry Styles.
Remember, Swift's closet is not the only one going on in this story. This is not a "PR!" Relationship in which Travis is some kind of barnacle dragging down the big boat (Swift).
In case no one has noticed, Travis' image and his name have been getting smeared already. The seeds are being planted for future lyrics, for whenever the "break up" comes.
And now? Travis and Patrick are in the process of being publicly "separated" after being seen in each other's company for years.
Management teams are actively erasing parts of their history and established patterns of hanging out with each other and doing so with each passing week. For instance, these teams are obviously bothered by who Travis' local barber is and trying to make it look like Travis has been flying in another barber for years.
We have some thoughts on this new story that we will share in another post. But, let's say for now it's interesting that this barber just happens to be named Patrick. These teams have also re-written and lied about Travis' housing arrangements, which is very telling as well.
Narnia plans to address some of these erasures, but things are happening so lightning-speed with these two and I don't know about Methodical Muser, but these further elaborations will come out in due time.
Besides, it's holiday season and we are trying to be merry despite the chaos which December can bring from some of our featured faves' teams. 😉
So, if you happen to see this, please just give some thought that there could be more to this fauxmance than simply marketing and money.
In fact, profit maximization and the raising of profiles, are merely topping the surface of what's happening here.
For some of us have seen this same story played out too many times before.
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| 2018 |
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| 2023 Super Bowl |
pic sources: twitter, Getty, Rest in Pieces, Fox19.com
our playlist: Do You Hear What I Hear - for King and Country
Song for a Winter's Night - Sarah McLaughlan
Happy Christmas (War is Over) - King Calaway
Stille Nacht - Mannheim Steamroller
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