Widely shared social media posts claim to show a picture of Taylor Swift disembarking a plane with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, ahead of a game in the US state of Florida. This is false; the image has been digitally altered to include the pop singer.
“Taylor Swift arrived in Jacksonville with Travis Kelce today,” says a September 17, 2023 Facebook post with thousands of interactions.
Similar posts sharing the image can be found on other Facebook meme pages and platforms such as X.
After talk of a relationship between the singer and American football athlete spread online, amplified by sports commentators’ speculation, the image circulated on social media. However, Swift, who is frequently at the center of dating rumors, has made no public comment on the matter.
Whether the two have been dating is unclear, but regardless of the relationship status, the photo — claiming to show the pair arriving before Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs went up against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a National Football League (NFL) match — is digitally altered.
The image shared online actually consists of two separate photos.
AFP conducted a Google reverse image search and found The Daily Mail published the unedited photo of Swift on July 22, 2018 (archived here).
A subsequent keyword search uncovered the original picture available on the Getty Images website, taken by photographer Nancy Rivera in New York City.
The Kansas City Chiefs published the solo photo of Kelce on its website (archived here). Captured by David Gray, the caption says: “Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) traveled Jacksonville, FL for a Week 2 matchup against Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, September 16, 2023.”
A video of Kelce exiting the aircraft was also shared on the Chief’s Facebook page (archived here).
More of AFP’s reporting on fake celebrity photos can be found here.
