6 days ago
Travis Kelce branded as a 'nepo boyfriend' after Taylor Swift's strategic 'PR stunt' to promote his podcast
Travis Kelce has been dubbed a 'nepo boyfriend' after his podcast skyrocketed to the top of the charts following Taylor Swift's new album announcement.
On Monday, Taylor teased her 12th studio album, called The Life of a Showgirl, in a preview clip from this week's episode of Travis and his brother Jason Kelce 's New Heights podcast.
The move has sent the already-popular podcast to the top of Apple's podcast charts, surpassing The Daily, Crime Junkie, and The Joe Rogan Experience.
An Instagram reel of Taylor announcing the album on New Heights already has a 173 million views and counting, while the official New Heights Instagram account has gained over 300,000 followers.
Taylor's decision to announce her next album on New Heights has raised eyebrows on social media, with some people claiming that her career has now become too focused on Travis.
'This entire time she's been dating Travis it almost seems as if she can't do anything that doesn't revolve around him and that everything she's doing is a PR stunt to push up him whereas before it was about Taylor,' one social media user wrote.
'But I'm the bad guy for saying Taylor did an album announcement on his podcast to boost their viewership LMFAO,' commented another.
'This has gotta be one of the biggest PR masterclasses of all time from Taylor and Travis and their teams,' wrote a third.
Taylor's announcement sent the already-popular podcast to the top of Apple's podcast charts, surpassing The Daily, Crime Junkie, and The Joe Rogan Experience
Despite countless fans pointing out how Taylor's appearance has boosted the Kelce brothers' show, New Heights has been one of the most popular sports podcasts in the country since it launched in 2022.
It was named Sports Podcast of the Year in 2022, and last year, it won Podcast of the Year at iHeartMedia's iHeartPodcast Awards.
Last year, Travis and Jason signed a $100 million deal with Amazon to produce the podcast.
Amazon-owned Wondery has exclusive ad-sale and distribution rights to New Heights, which surged in popularity after it emerged Kansas City Chiefs star Travis was dating Taylor.
In a statement to Variety at the time, the brothers said: 'We couldn't be more excited to team up with Wondery for the next phase of New Heights.
'We love this show, and the fanbase that has grown with us over the last two seasons. Wondery understands the shared vision and will offer a wealth of experience and resources to take us to New Heights!
'We are going to create some groundbreaking moments together through this partnership. We are thrilled to start season three.'
The deal also included livestreams and the rights to develop manufacture, license and distribute all merchandise based on New Heights.
'New Heights on the surface is a sports podcast, and sports is such a well-listened-to category,' Wondery CEO Jen Sargent said.
'But it's become a cultural phenomenon - they're in that cultural zeitgeist.'
Meanwhile, Taylor is set to appear on New Heights on Wednesday at 7pm, where she'll likely unveil more information on the release her 12th studio album Life of a Showgirl.
Appearing alongside boyfriend Travis on this week's episode, the singer said in a teaser, 'So I wanted to show you something. This is my brand-new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.'
Travis' brother Jason let out a piercing scream of joy as soon as the album title escaped her lips.
The album cover was blurred out in the preview.
'TS 12!' Travis cheered excitedly, referencing The Life Of A Showgirl's status as her 12th studio album, as the announcement clip came to an abrupt end.
The full episode of the show drops on Wednesday.
