Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce – the celebrity romance that’s captured as many hearts as Posh and Becks.
But this pop star and sports man have found themselves defending their love affair today after a document written on the headed paper of his US PR company was spread online.
The paperwork, which appears to have been created by Los Angeles-based PR firm Full Scope, reveals a strategy to manage the reputation of Kelce when he splits from Swift – with the planned date for the separation earmarked for September 28.
Laying out what the statement would say, they write: “Example: Travis and Taylor have decided to part ways after careful consideration. They both value and respect each other’s personal lives and appreciate your respect for privacy during this time.
“They are both committed to their careers and personal growth. They remain friends and wish each other the best.”
Well, at least there’s no mention of conscious uncoupling.
A spokesman for Full Scope insisted the documents were “entirely false and fabricated and were not created, issued or authorised by this agency”.
The representative also said they have called in lawyers – though they are not expected to find the culprit.
“We have engaged our legal team to initiate proceedings against the individuals or entities responsible for the unlawful and injurious forgery of documents,” they said.
No word from Taylor and Travis but fans of the pair have taken to social media to lend their support, slating the supposed contract saying it reads like “a high school assignment” or “something created by ChatGPT”.
People are also wondering if this sort of document is really “a thing”.
Do PR firms actually plan ahead for this sort of scenario?
Errrr yes. Of course they do.
In recent months we’ve been shaken by the splits of Maya Jama and Stormzy, Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae and Bennifer who filed for divorce on their second wedding anniversary.
Each time, we have seen the news hit our Instagram feeds with the announcement setting off a ripple effect across newsrooms and gossip pages.
Meanwhile, you can be sure that the stars’ publicists are carefully watching the reaction.
There are some things they definitely want out there. And other things they really don’t. But did you really think this was left to chance? No way.
The only way to manage a high-profile breakup properly (yes Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans, I am looking at you) is through a PR strategy.
There’s a whole host of dedicated crisis management teams who hustle behind the scenes for celebrity couples who split, trying to make it appear as rosy as possible.
And you can be sure that every statement is carefully put together to hide a multitude of secrets.
Think in real world terms here. You have just split up with your boyfriend. Are you really “moving forward with deep love, kindness, and mutual respect” like Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth?
Hell no. You are eating a tub of Ben n’ Jerrys and bitching to your girlfriends about how they always left the toilet seat up. Am I right?
Well I hate to say it but it looks much like this document concerning Travis and Taylor.
It’s not a simple break up and move on, after all.
It’s break up, pull together a discreet PR team, craft a statement that makes the celebrity look good and ideally, benefits them by promoting whatever project they have going on and monitor the impact.
Timing is everything too. Taylor Swift knows all about this already.
Take her break-up with Joe Alwyn, which conveniently hit the news just as The Eras Tour was kicking off. It was speculated that this was no coincidence and that the pair had broken up months earlier. This, of course, was never confirmed or denied by Taylor’s team but god, it worked in her favour.
What followed was multiple fan videos of her slaying it on stage, accompanied by captions such as, ‘ways to boss the break-up’.
It’s not very romantic, is it? But then, neither is a pre-nup.
But what you have to consider is that for celebrities, a break up is considered a crisis. It has the potential to threaten reputation and with that can detrimentally impact popularity.
It makes perfect sense therefore, that tactics are devised to manage situations that might destabilise their success – such as a divorce or separation – allowing them to optimise any opportunity while preventing damage.
This is precisely the same as a business having a crisis communications strategy in place.
In simple terms, this helps an organisation prepare for and respond to negative events.
We don’t work for Taylor Swift and we don’t manage Travis Kelce’s reputation. But we can give your business the celebrity treatment with a strategy that mitigates risk whatever problems might face you down the line.
The key however, is to work with a PR team like ours well before anything bad happens – think of it like insurance.
Otherwise, you will be (to quote Taylor) “picking up the pieces of the mess you made” and it will all be too late.
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