Travis Kelce sidesteps Jake Gyllenhaal question, subtly shades Joe Alwyn while talking Taylor Swift’s ‘Karma’
Look what they made him do.
Swifties are applauding Travis Kelce for how he responded when Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal was mentioned on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast.
The actor, 43, came up during Monday’s episode when a co-host called “Karma” one of his favorite Swift songs — but didn’t know who the 2022 track was written about.
“‘Karma’ is Gyllenhaal, right?” Will Compton asked. “Was it Jake? Am I wrong?”
Kelce, 34, sidestepped the question and simply asked, “What happened?”
The NFL star laughed as the show’s other host, Taylor Lewan, went on to school Compton about the song’s lyric calling karma “the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.”
Compton asked whether the line used to reference “the guy on the screen” — as Swift sang in the album version while dating ex Joe Alwyn.
Kelce scratched his leg and replied, “It was,” with fans convinced he shaded the “Kinds of Kindness” star, 33, with his emphasis on “was.”
Swifties praised Kelce via X for “the way he handled that nonsense” since “saying gyllenhaal in front of him is CRAZY.”
One fan wrote that Kelce’s responses sent them into “orbit,” while others joked that they needed “it was” on a T-shirt.
Another social media user added, “Listen, if Travis wasn’t made for this… This life ain’t real. He handled the whole bit like a champ.”
Swift first made the “Karma” lyric change during a November 2023 show in Buenos Aires and has continued to swap the line out to honor Kelce.
When she performed the song during a London Eras Tour show on Saturday, the tight end celebrated by high-fiving a fellow audience member.
Kelce began dating the pop star in the summer of 2023, with the duo going public that September as Swift began attending his games.
The “Catching Kelce” alum gushed on Monday about falling for how “grounded” and “self-aware” the Grammy winner is.
Prior to their romance, Swift had a fling with the 1975 frontman Matty Healy in the wake of her and Alwyn’s April 2023 breakup after six years together.
Alwyn spoke about their “difficult” public split for the first time in a London Times interview published earlier this month.
“There is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said,” he said. “I have made my peace with that.”
As for Swift’s relationship with Gyllenhaal, the former couple’s short-lived union took place in late 2010.
The songwriter seemingly sings about it in “All Too Well,” and after the tune was re-released as a 10-minute version in 2021, Gyllenhaal blasted “unruly” fans in an Esquire profile.
The “Nightcrawler” star, who has been dating model Jeanne Cadieu since 2018, implied that Swift has a “responsibilty” to keep her supporters “civil and not allow for cyberbullying.”
