Did Travis Kelce’s PR Rep Shade Taylor Swift? The Truth Revealed

Travis Kelce’s publicist’s clown comment explained

It all started on October 29, when Pia Malihi reposted a friend’s birthday shoutout on Instagram. “Happy birthday to our Roman Empire,” her friend wrote as a caption, with a set of four photos including one where Taylor Swift’s face is blocked out by a clown emoji.

The backlash was, erm, swift. Her fans took to Kelce’s Instagram to comment: “Hey bestie… you might want to talk to your publicist about that post,” one wrote. Another wrote, “Your publicist needs a publicist.” Some suggested Pia should be fired for the move, while Pia made her account private in an apparent move to block the hate she was receiving.

But it was seemingly a misunderstanding. Piai’s friend Amanda—the one who posted the original birthday shoutout—responded to the drama on Instagram, “It’s me, hi. Was completely innocent to keep attention on Pia’s bday. Wrong choice of bday clown emoji (by me, not Pia!). Nothing but love for Taylor!”

Deuxmoi also defended the situation on Instagram: “The post was a repost. Pia did not put the clown emoji over TS’s face. It was a birthday post that was reposted by accident by someone who works for Pia. All parties involved realize it was an accident. IDK why the clown emoji was used originally.” So that explains it.

How did Travis and Taylor meet?

As it turns out, some eagle-eyed fans might have uncovered a mutual connection that could explain how Swift and Kelce ended up in each other’s lives. In a now-viral post on X, formerly known as Twitter, a Swiftie pointed out the surprising link—and it involves one of Swift’s dancers, Kameron Saunders.

Saunders, who has been performing for the Midnights star on her recent Eras Tour, is the brother of Kelce’s former Kansas City Chiefs teammate, Khalen Saunders. “WHY NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT HOW TAYLOR’S DANCER KAM SAUNDERS IS BROTHER TO KHALEN SAUNDERS THAT PLAYS WITH TRAVIS KELCE,” wrote the fan. Later, the social media user clarified, “Ok he doesn’t play there anymore but Travis and Khalen literally won this year superbowl together.”

For some more context: The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in February 2023, at which point, it’s true that Kelce and Khalen Saunders were teammates. Khalen now plays for the New Orleans Saints. Meanwhile one month after Khalen’s Super Bowl win with the Chiefs, his brother Kameron Saunders announced on Instagram that he was going on tour with none other than Swift.

“I have been holding onto this since December when I got the call,” Kameron wrote in a caption of a post shared on March 18, 2023. “We opened last night in Arizona and I am just overwhelmed by all the love messages and DMs … This is super special because just a month ago we were in this SAME stadium watching my brother win his second Super Bowl ring.”

Could it be a coincidence? Of course. But plenty of fans are now convinced that the Saunders brothers played a part in Swift and Kelce’s romance. “Oh my gosh i wonder if somehow travis got a good word in with kam who then told taylor,” one fan wondered. Another wrote, “Now I understand why ppl think they’ve been dating for longer.” A third social media user begged the question: “IS THIS HOW THE BRACELET GOT SHIPPED TO THE RIGHT ADDRESS???”

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