Rachel Zegler Urges Media to ‘Leave Taylor Swift Alone’ – Rolling Stone

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Rachel Zegler is no stranger to an Internet backlash and now the actress has spoken up in defense of Taylor Swift in light of criticism around her rumored relationship with Travis Kelce.

Swift has appeared at two Kansas City Chiefs games to root for Kelce, which has led to a variety of responses from both fans and critics. This week, Dan Katz from Barstool Sports said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that he didn’t quite believe the relationship was real. “If Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift release a sex video, I’ll consummate this relationship and be like, ‘Fine,’” Katz said.

“It’s not news that the media is particularly (and unwarrantedly) cruel to Taylor Swift but the way men feel entitled to speak about women, their bodies, and their sex lives needs to be seriously evaluated,” Zegler wrote in response on X (formerly Twitter). “You will never see people speaking this way about a man. That goes for a lot of different scenarios. We do not pick apart men’s attitudes and relationships the way we do women’s. And it’s not always just men who speak this way about us. Women can and do, too. It sucks. Leave Taylor Swift alone!”

A few hours later, Zegler added, “Seeing a lot of ‘it’s a joke’ but you’ve got to understand that since the beginning of time ‘you can’t take a joke’ has been synonymous with ‘let me say a horrible thing about women without suffering the consequences’ — we’re sick and tired! It’s never been funny! Get a life!”

On Sunday, Swift attended the Kansas City Chiefs game against the New York Jets at the MetLife Stadium with some celebrity friends, including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Sophie Turner. It marked the second game Swift has gone to in support of Kelce since rumors that they were dating began circulating earlier this summer. After Swifties and football lovers lost their damn minds at the mere sight of the singer sitting in Kelce’s suite, the Chiefs’ tight end went on his podcast New Heights to kinda-sorta discuss the budding romance.

“Shout out to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy,” Kelce said. “Everybody in the suite had nice things to say about her — the friends and family. She looked amazing. Everybody was talking about her in a great light. The day went perfect — for Chiefs fans. It was impressive.”

Swift’s fandom at the Chiefs games has had some unexpected (or maybe completely expected) results. Travis Kelce jersey sales have spiked dramatically since she began supporting the team last month.

“Yesterday, Travis Kelce was one of the top five selling NFL players and saw a nearly 400 percent spike in sales throughout the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com,” a spokesperson for the NFL’s official e-commerce partner, Fanatics, shared in a statement via CNN in late September.