Taylor Swift needs to protect her brand, even as her red-hot romance with Travis Kelce appears to be on the right track.
The 34-year-old pop singer, who recently held hands with the 34-year-old NFL star at a zoo date in Sydney, needs to make sure the relationship stays on a positive path following Travis' recent “missteps,” an expert exclusively told .
“Taylor has a tremendous reservoir of goodwill and, indeed, admiration that can withstand her boyfriend's behavioral and reputational missteps,” said brand strategist and messaging consultant Adam Hanft, seeming to reference Travis' Super Bowl meltdown and his decision to celebrate after a mass shooting at the Kansas City parade.
“What matters is the extent to which he stays on the straight and narrow – and doesn't embarrass himself or her – and in that context, how she deals with this should become a permanent issue,” he added.
Not only does Travis' antics have the potential to damage the Reputation singer's $1.1 billion net worth, but they could also negatively impact his own brand — and even that of the NFL.
Taylor Swift needs to protect her brand even as her red-hot romance with Travis Kelce appears to be on a picture-perfect trajectory; pictured at the 2023 AFC Championship Game
The pop singer needs to make sure the relationship stays on a positive path following Travis' recent “missteps,” an expert exclusively told ; pictured at the SNL afterparty on October 15, 2023
“When Travis is plagued by impulse control problems and shows a psychological resistance to retreating behind her celebrity – which is programmatic, considering that football heroes usually compete for the Nobel Prize for testosterone – and she ultimately dumps him, “His personal brand is damaged “said Hanft.
“If the relationship ends this way, the NFL brand will also be affected by reinforcing the perception of football players who are passionate about the wrong things,” he added.
The warning comes at a time when Travis is facing intense criticism for almost clashing with his coach Andy Reid during the Super Bowl.
After the Kansas City Chiefs offense struggled in the first half, Travis became upset when Reid removed him from a play.
He pushed Reid, causing the 65-year-old to lose his balance. At one point, the player even grabbed Reid's left arm, seemingly to support him while he screamed in his face. Finally, a teammate intervened and pulled Kelce away.
While fans were quick to criticize the aggressive move, a more composed Travis after the game emphasized the impact Reid had on his career.
“I have the greatest coach this game has ever seen,” Kelce told reporters. “And I owe my entire career to this guy and the ability to control how emotional I get, and I just love him, man.”
A few days later, Travis' spectacularly insensitive decision to party hard at his Super Bowl parade after a mass shooting sparked even more public anger.
“Taylor has a tremendous reservoir of goodwill and indeed admiration that can withstand any behavioral and reputational missteps from her boyfriend,” said brand strategist and messaging consultant Adam Hanft, seeming to reference Travis' on-field meltdown at the Super Bowl
Kelce exploded in anger after the Chiefs missed the chance for their first touchdown of the game
Kelce's outburst came to the fore as his girlfriend Taylor cheered him on in the stands
A few days later, Travis' spectacularly insensitive decision to party hard at his Super Bowl parade after a mass shooting sparked even more public anger; pictured in February
Just hours after 22 fans were shot – including nine children and a young mother died – Travis visited the Granfalloon Restaurant and Bar and took selfies with police officers while carrying an open beer bottle on the street after appearing on stage at the Parade looked way too drunk to speak.
Outraged fans used the terms “caveman” and “douchebag” on social media to describe the situation.
Kelce then matched Taylor's $100,000 donation to the shooting victims.
A GoFundMe page shows two $50,000 donations from his charity, the Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation – an organization dedicated to “helping underserved youth become productive citizens.” become”.
Despite Travis' public expressions of remorse, brand expert Hanft claimed, Taylor needs to be cautious about her future with the athlete to protect her brand, which Bloomberg values at $1.1 billion, thanks in part to her massive 146-date global era tour and his subsequent tour film.
This comes after Forbes estimated in July that Swift had a net worth of over $740 million.
According to Bloomberg, Swift is one of the rare people who has achieved billionaire status primarily through her music and performances.
Citing publicly disclosed and verifiable assets and income, her wealth comes primarily from an extensive discography, ownership of five homes, and income from streaming deals, music sales, concert tickets, and merchandise.
Kelce came under fire after attending a “scaled-down” celebration hours after the tragedy
Outraged fans used the terms “caveman” and “douchebag” on social media to describe Travis celebrating after the shooting
Despite Travis' public expressions of remorse, brand expert Hanft claimed, Taylor must be cautious about her future with the athlete to protect her brand, which Bloomberg estimates at $1.1 billion; pictured at the 2024 Super Bowl
Taylor has already protected her brand through a number of celebrity romances including Joe Jonas, Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer, Taylor Lautner and Calvin Harris
Her split from Harris was followed by a brief collaboration with English actor Tom Hiddleston, which eventually led to a six-year partnership with Joe Alwyn in 2017.
When her romance with Travis first hit the rocks last year, the football player said he knew he had to put his best foot forward.
“That was the biggest thing for me,” he told WSJ. “Make sure I don’t say anything that might scare Taylor away.”