On Feb. 6, 2024, a reader asked Snopes whether Ed Kelce — father of Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce who is dating pop star Taylor Swift — praised the singer for tidying up a suite in a football stadium.
An image the reader shared with Snopes, which included a photo of Swift and Ed Kelce alongside the transcript of an interview, contained the assertion he called the musician "very special" for "picking up empty bottles, cans, plates" when they first met.
Other examples of the claim were on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
📝| Ed Kelce talks about Taylor being "very genuine" and "a very, very sweet, very charming, down-to-earth young woman." (via @people)
"I'll tell you something very special that I noticed about Taylor the first time I met her -
We're sitting in the suite, she gets up and in… pic.twitter.com/nKf0qKKRK2
— Taylor Swift Updates 🩶 (@swifferupdates) October 23, 2023
The assertion stems from an exclusive article in People Magazine, titled "Travis Kelce's Dad Ed Talks 'Very Sweet' Taylor Swift, Says She Was Picking Up Trash in Game Suite."
We have reached out to Ed Kelce via social media to confirm the content of the interview and have rated this claim as "Research in Progress" while we await his response.
He reportedly told the writer "something very special" he noticed about Swift the first time he met her.
"We're sitting in the suite, she gets up and in the front room, she gets up to go get a drink or something and she starts picking up empty bottles, cans, plates that are scattered around. Because in the suites everybody gets stuff and you empty it down wherever you can."
He was also said to have called the pop star "sweet," "charming" and "down-to-earth," and explained how she was not a "diva," nor a "spoiled musician."
Other outlets also reported on his comments to People about Swift.
The relationship between the singer and her partner, Travis Kelce, has been the subject of multiple Snopes fact checks.