Fans of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were able to breathe a sigh of relief when a leaked ‘contract’ revealing the exact day of their split was denounced as a fake.
As the document, apparently printed on the headed paper of his US PR company circulated online, Mr Kelce called in the lawyers – and yet, it’s not the first time rumours have swirled around the legitimacy of the high profile relationship.
Last year it was claimed that Travis’ own publicist had been gossiping about the relationship, saying it was a PR stunt.
The publicist in question, Pia Malihi, later attracted further ire from fans who were convinced that she was having a dig at Taylor when she shared a post to her Instagram with a clown emoji over the singer’s face.
While it was very likely an innocent error, she received a huge backlash from Swifties who were quick to point out that she used to work closely with Taylor’s arch nemesis, music mogul Scooter Braun, at a previous PR agency.
What’s more, Travis’s other publicist, Jack Ketsoyan, has focused much of his career on showmances, revealing in a candid interview how he set them up – and even wrote a novel on the topic, based on his own experiences.
Pia is photographed next to Taylor at Arrowhead Stadium watching a regular season game in September
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Rivet Soho discusses Pia’s birthday tribute post and the drama that ensued
Travis’s PR Agency, Scope Public Relations, is headed by Jack Ketsoyan and Pia Malihi.
Last year, American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster QTCinderlla, dropped a bombshell claim that Taylor’s relationship with the NFL star is fake, with information allegedly coming from a publicist, who some have suggested is Pia.
Talking in an interview, the internet sensation, whose real name is Blaire, said she learned the ‘crazy hot tea’ from her makeup artist, who is allegedly friends with Travis’s publicist.
In a clip of QTCinderlla speaking at an event posted to TikTok, she said: ‘Here’s some crazy hot tea. My makeup artist was doing my makeup yesterday, and I’m a Swiftie and I casually bring her up in conversation.
‘And then she’s like, “Yeah, that PR relationship is so crazy”, and I was like, “With Travis Kelce?” And she said, “Yes”.
‘She was like: “I’m friends with Travis Kelce’s publicist and she said that it’s a PR relationship.
‘I go, “Well maybe it started as a PR relationship, but surely it’s real love, right?”. And she goes, “No”.
‘She was like, “I was talking to my friend”, we’ll call her Samantha, and she was like, “I was talking to Samantha, and Samantha was like, “Travis sell all those jerseys while you can for all it’s worth.”‘
After revealing details of the alleged fake relationship, QTCinderlla added: ‘I don’t think I’ll get sued, I didn’t sign the NDA.’
While the YouTuber may have avoided any legal issues regarding her claims, reaction from Taylor Swift fans led her to issue an apology via X, formerly Twitter.
She wrote: ‘Would like to make it very clear. I think Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are in love and cute together.
‘I was just spewing hot gos[sip] because what I heard was so unhinged I thought it was insane so wanted to share the insanity.
Pictured from L to R: Aaron Eanes, Travis Kelce, publicist Pia Malihi, and a friend of the group named Harry
The publicist is said to be dating 23-year-old Kansas City Chiefs player Skyy Moore (pictured)
‘Not because I believed it cause I was like, “that’s crazy”, overall I don’t care about a celebrity relationship and was just shooting the s*** on a podcast for entertainment. It’s not that deep. This is the wackest s*** I’ve ever tweeted in my life.’
That same month, Pia also found herself in hot water with Taylor Swift fans after a birthday tribute post appeared to shade the Love Story singer.
On 29 October, Pia’s friend called Amanda shared a birthday post with a collage of images of the publicist, alongside the words ‘happy birthday to our Roman Empire’.
At the centre of the post, which Pia reshared on her account, was an image of the PR guru next to Taylor at a Chicago Bears v Kansas City Chiefs game in September at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas.
It was captioned: ‘Happy birthday to our Roman Empire’, internet speak for something you think about constantly.
In the centre of the collage was a snap of Pia alongside Taylor at her first ever Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium.
However, Pia’s friend had placed a clown face emoji over Taylor’s face, causing outrage among Swifties.
Amanda later claimed that she did not intend to offend Taylor by placing a clown emoji over her face, according to Elite Daily.
Taking to Instagram to offer an explanation, she said: ‘It’s me, hi. Was completely innocent to keep attention on Pia’s birthday.
‘Wrong choice of birthday clown emoji; (by me, not Pia!). Nothing but love for Taylor!
At the same time, celebrity gossip account Deux Moi also commented on the situation to defend Pia.
Pia did not address the situation, and following a slew of nasty comments across her Instagram profile, she changed her setting to private.
For instance, Dave Portnoy, the president of Barstool Sports, said Pia is the ‘worst publicist to ever live,’ following the drama.
Taking to X, the founder said: Introducing the worst publicist to ever live. Travis Kelce’s publicist reposting a picture that has a clown emoji over Taylor’s face.
‘Even if it was an accident it’s an accident a publicist can’t make. See ya Pia….’
Swifties were quick to jump on the drama, and soon spotted that Pia had previously been responsible for Scooter Braun’s account while working for Jonesworks publicity.
Braun infamously was embroiled in controversy with Swift after the music mogul purchased her master recordings from Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta back in 2019.
Swift expressed her disappointment over the high-profile transaction, saying: ‘Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,’ Swift said.
‘For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead, I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and “earn” one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in.’
Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift have a long-standing feud after he bought her master recordings and sold them for $300 million
Bad Blood t hat casts doubt on the singer’s version of the events that led up to Braun splashing out $300m on the rights to her back catalog
Nearly a year and a half later, Braun went on to sell the master recordings for more than $300 million to equity firm Shamrock Holdings
Swift has said she intends to re-record her first six records, having released the albums Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version), to make the master recordings worthless.
In June this year, the documentary Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood cast doubt on the singer’s version of events, suggesting she was offered the chance to buy her master tapes in 2019 by BMGL boss Scott Borchetta – and again by Braun when he sold them.
Whatever the reality of her supposed bad blood with Taylor may be, Pia appears to remain in the inner circle of Travis and is rumoured to be dating his teammate.
In June, Life & Style claimed Pia is dating Kansas City Chiefs star and Travis’s teammate, Skyy Moore, 23.
Travis Kelce’s publicist Jack Ketsoyan (pictured) is no stranger to ‘showmances’, having written a novel on the topic
Travis and Taylor pictured after having dinner at the Waverly Inn in New York on October 15, 2023
Meanwhile, Pia’s co-founder at Full Scope PR, Jack Ketsoyan, has also been heavily linked to the whole showmance concept.
Described by Macmillan publishers as a ‘veteran publicist in Hollywood’, Jack has represented a host of notable figures, including Jennifer Lopez.
PR relationships are a reoccurring theme in Jack’s career, with him co-writing two novels – Blind Item and sequel Guilty Pleasure – alongside entertainment journalist Kevin Dickson, on the matter.
The Blind Item follows as assistant publicist in Hollywood called Nicola, who learns that ‘the real Hollywood is rotten under its glittering skin’.
In the second novel, Nicola grapples with a fake relationship with her former boyfriend for ‘some badly needed good publicity’.
The synopsis reads: ‘Three young Hollywood professionals hustle to keep the industry’s dirtiest secrets in this addictive and salacious sequel to Blind Item.’
Talking in an interview Daily Front Row in June 2017, Jack revealed that the inspiration for the novel stemmed directly from his real-life experiences.
‘Kevin [Dickson] and I became fast friends back when he was working at one of the celebrity weekly magazines, ‘ Jack said.
He continued: ‘Every week we used to get together, laugh and chat about all the crazy things that we had seen through our jobs—things that no one would ever be able to print, nor did we want anyone to know about.
‘We had been exposed to so many interesting stories and all our friends kept telling us we need to write a book, so… here we are. ‘
Elsewhere, Jack has previously admitted to putting together ‘showmances’ — where celebrities are set up for publicity — before.
Featuring in an Australian podcast for Mamamia’s The Quicky in 2019, Mr Ketsoyan said the fake romances arise if one has a film or something to promote or to distract from unappealing publicity like a project flop.
He said at the time: ‘It’s to be able to sell the hype of it – whether a concert, album… or getting people to go to see the movie, it all about the hype at the moment.’
He went on to say the ‘main clue’ would be if a high-profile male went on to date a not-so-high-profile female and they became the most talked about person overnight.
While he didn’t name names, the Hollywood insider said that it’s not uncommon for stars to sign a ‘love contract’, which requires them to ‘date’ for at least a year.
In the celebrity world, it’s out with the dating apps and in with the lawyers, publicists and accountants.
Jack explained that fake relationships were once used to cover up the fact a popular actor was gay, but now it’s all about generating buzz.
