Travis Kelce Expertly Dodges Question About Taylor Swift’s OG ‘Karma’ Inspiration

Travis Kelce opened a can of worms — accidentally getting Jake Gyllenhaal’s name brought into the conversation — when discussing who girlfriend Taylor Swift’s song “Karma” is about.

Kelce, 34, appeared on the Tuesday, June 25, episode of the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast where he and hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan ranked their top three Swift songs. Compton, 34, put “Karma” from Swift’s 2022 Midnights album on his list because it’s his 2-year-old daughter Cerulean Belle’s favorite.

“Does she know who Karma is?” Kelce asked. His question was referring to Swift’s November 2023 lyric change to “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs” instead of “Karma is the guy on the screen.”

Compton was visibly confused by the question — and blamed it on his daughter.

“I don’t know if Rue knows who ‘Karma’ is about,” he said, calling Cerulean by her nickname. “‘Karma’ is Gyllenhaal, right?” (Swift briefly dated Gyllenhaal in 2010, and fans have speculated that most of her Red album is about their split.)

Kelce, dodging the question, responded, “What happened?”

Compton and Lewan, 32, went back and forth about the lyric swap after getting the joke. “I know it’s changed. I know it’s about the boy now, right,” Compton said. “I remember that one moment, that clip dropped, and she said that and everybody’s going nuts. The camera pans over to Trav and he’s kind of grinning in the backstage part.”

Kelce, laughing, tried to put an end to the discussion. However, he did recall the Buenos Aires concert where the “Karma” lyric change first took place.

“I was like, ‘Oh, s–t,’” the NFL star recalled.

Swift, 34, and Kelce started dating in September 2023, and it’s obvious they have no qualms about sharing their love publicly.

When it comes to “Karma,” Kelce proved this past weekend that he’s well-versed with the tune. On Sunday, June 23, eagle-eyed fans caught him dancing along to the song’s Eras Tour choreography while Swift was performing it on stage. “Karma” is the final Eras Tour song before Swift walks off stage, and video footage from her recent London concert showed Kelce smiling and moving his arms while pointing his foot to the side — just like Swift’s dancers.

During Tuesday’s “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast episode, Kelce shared more insight into his romance with Swift.

“You wanna keep things private, but at the same time, I’m not here to, like, hide anything,” Kelce gushed. “That’s my girl. You know what I mean? That’s my lady, so it’s, like, I’m proud of that.”

He added: “I’m not sitting here trying to juggle, like, ‘How can I keep this under wraps?’ You just don’t want to let everybody into your personal life and be able to comment on it knowing that everything she does is getting a headline.”