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Jimmy Kimmel roasted both Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce during a monologue on his late-night show — and fans have reacted accordingly.
“Travis Kelce signed a two-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs. He is now the highest-paid tight end in the NFL — deservedly so,” Kimmel began on the April 30 episode. “His new contract is worth $34 million, or, as Taylor Swift calls it, ‘Gum money.'”
“Can you imagine being in a relationship where you make $34 million and you’re still the broke boyfriend?” he quipped as the audience laughed. (Swift, for her part, was recently named a billionaire by Forbes.)
Then he came for the Swifties. “Another weird thing about dating Taylor Swift is you could be one the great players of all time and this is the reaction you get to your contract extension,” Kimmel said, sharing a screenshot of an Instagram post filled with fan commentary infantilizing the NFL star (a common phenomenon in pop music fandom).
As Kimmel read the comments — “This baby his eyes full of tears, he’s so baby girl, cutie pie, sweet boy, pookiest pookie” — he couldn’t help but compare their reactions to those fawning over a pet. “I’m not sure if he’s a football player or a kitten,” he joked.
As Kimmel went on to point out Swift’s own success over the past week — she became the first artist in history to occupy the top 14 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 — he marveled at her reach.
“I feel like Taylor swift, at this point, if she wanted to, could win the Kentucky Derby,” he cracked.
Fans, of course, had thoughts on Kimmel’s monologue.
Some leaned into his humor.
“And when taylor does win the kentucky derby then what?” one person tweeted. “Thank u jimmy for mentioning the kentucky derby i will be manifesting a tayappearance now 😌,” another fan, who posted the clip to X (formerly known as Twitter), said. “Pookiest pookie 😂😂😂 I love being a Swiftie,” a third user wrote.
Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Others, of course, were not here for Kimmel’s jokes.
“Why do they always feel the need to demean fans to make a joke ? Even the joke about Travis’ salary is misogynistic ugh,” questioned another X user.
“What a way to minimize him just for money,” one person critiqued.
“Same old boring jokes!” declared a fan.
“Guess Jimmy doesn’t want Taylor or Travis to appear on his show any time soon,” another noted.
Swift and Kelce, meanwhile, are living their best lives — both together and apart. In addition to Kelce’s new contract and Swift’s historic The Tortured Poets Department, the pair recently cozied up in Las Vegas at Patrick Mahomes’ charity event. Swift is also heading out on the road later this week to finish up the final legs of her wildly successful Eras Tour.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.