Claim:
Image shows an aggressive reply from Travis Kelce to an X post Elon Musk wrote about Taylor Swift, saying he could twist the tech entrepreneur "into a pretzel."
Rating:
Fake ( About this rating? )
A rumor circulated online in September 2024 claiming Kansas City Chiefs tight end and three-time Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce replied to an X post from tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
This story began on the night of Sept. 10, when 14-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift — who is in a romantic relationship with Kelce — posted on Instagram that she decided to vote for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in the upcoming November presidential election.
Shortly thereafter, Musk — who strongly endorsed Harris' rival, former President Donald Trump — posted ( archived ) on X, indicating he'd enjoy a relationship with Swift and would impregnate her and take care of her cats. His post read, " Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life."
On the following day, users shared an image they claimed was a screenshot of a reply from Kelce's X account, @tkelce, to Musk that read, "I'm 6'5 and actually play football. The fact I went to college and got a degree and worked hard might be lost on you. I don't play backgammon but I do play chess. I could also twist you into a pretzel."
Numerous users shared this supposed screenshot of Kelce's response on Facebook , Reddit , Threads , X , as well as on the 4chan and 4plebs imageboards and Talking Points Memo forums .
However, as Kelce's account timeline showed , he never posted such a reply to Musk. We also found no trace of Kelce acknowledging Musk's post anywhere outside of X.
In a direct message, X user @theABinKC told Snopes it was he who created the fake screenshot. It was originally part of his Sept. 11 post , in which he wrote, "it appears travis has responded to elon."
One user who apparently believed the fake Kelce post replied to @theABinKC's post, saying, " Liberal men are so fragile." Then, @theABinKC responded , "conservative f***t***s are so gullible."
On the following morning, @theABinKC posted , sarcastically, "my mentions are a full blown political war over a real and definitely not photoshopped reply from travis."
The user also later posted a meme responding to receiving a community note on X that provided context for anyone who might believe the Kelce reply was real.
Sources:
Brockington, Ariana. "Taylor Swift Thanks 'boyfriend' Travis Kelce in VMAs Acceptance Speech." TODAY.com , 12 Sept. 2024, https://www.today.com/popculture/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-timeline-rcna105483 .
Stipe, Zach. "Travis Kelce Wins Third Super Bowl." University of Cincinnati Athletics , 12 Feb. 2024, https://gobearcats.com/news/2024/2/12/football-travis-kelce-wins-third-super-bowl.aspx .
"Taylor Swift." GRAMMY.com , https://grammy.com/artists/taylor-swift/15450 .
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