Sports anchor Elle Duncan came to the defense of Taylor Swift after the pop star was blamed for the Kansas City Chiefs’ most recent loss.
The pop sensation, 34, spent Christmas Day cheering on the Chiefs and boyfriend Travis Kelce once again but didn’t get her holiday wish granted as Kansas City suffered a shock 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Anti-Hero hitmaker has attended several of the tight end’s games this season to great fanfare and attention. And, Christmas Day was no different as the broadcast focused on Swift, wearing a Santa hat with Kelce’s jersey number on, on several occasions.
Many NFL fans – or the ‘dads, Brads and Chads’ as Swift herself referred to them – were left disgruntled by the attention the songstress was getting from the league and the media.
And, following their most recent loss, analyst Skip Bayless claimed it was time to start calling Swift a distraction to Kelce and the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Sports anchor Elle Duncan came to the defense of Taylor Swift amid recent criticism
Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs suffered a shock 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders
Duncan hit out at critics always accusing women of being the root of athlete’s struggles
But Duncan, 40, who works for ESPN, shut down those claims as she hit out at critics always accusing women of being the root of athlete’s struggles on the field.
‘Do not blame Taylor Swift for being a ‘distraction,’ for Travis Kelce not playing well, for the Chiefs playing good…No, it is not her fault,’ said Duncan on her podcast, The Elle Duncan Show.
‘I am so tired of us doing this. And we do this to women. It’s Jessica Simpson’s fault Tony Romo spit the bit. Remember Kim Kardashian and Miles Austin for a hot second? It’s her fault. It’s always the woman’s fault for “distracting.”‘
‘Nobody’s asking if Travis Kelce is distracting her from a world tour…No one’s saying that. And I don’t like that.
‘I don’t like that all of sudden that this has become, “This is too much; let’s turn it on Taylor. He’s distracted,” like he can’t carry on a personal life and also a professional life. Get out of here. He’s Travis Kelce; stop. She’s not to blame. So please stop. Full stop on that narrative. Not okay. Stop.’
The Chiefs conceded two touchdowns in seven seconds, with the Raiders pouncing on a mix-up between Isiah Pacheco and quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the first, before Jack Jones’ pick-six moments later when he intercepted a Mahomes throw.
Frustration got the better of Kelce, as well, as he was caught on camera slamming his helmet to the ground before his coach, Andy Reid, gave him a shoulder nudge and tried to get him to regain his focus.
And Bayless wasn’t the only one to point the finger at Swift as OutKick founder Clay Travis also chimed in.
Swift was cheering Kelce on in the Christmas Day loss to Las Vegas Raiders on Monday
Skip Bayless (left) and Clay Travis (right) have been the leading critics of Swift and Kelce
Bayless took to social media to question whether the pop star was a dsitraction to the games
Travis took to Twitter on Christmas Day, after the Chiefs loss, and wrote: ‘The Chiefs are not a good football team and Travis Kelce looks like he should retire.
‘He’s been worthless the last seven or eight weeks. The double worthless Pfizer shots may have caught up with him. Either that or Taylor Swift is the Chiefs Yoko Ono. Maybe both.’
But both claims were met with derision from NFL fans and Swift’s own supporters, given that the Chiefs clearly have issues on the field, rather than the stands, that clearly need addressing.
Kansas City hosts the Cincinnati Bengals next on New Year’s and Swift and Brittany will be hoping their men can perform on the field to deliver a better cause for celebration that their Christmas performance.