Taylor Swift dropped a new release Friday, which is enough to get social media buzzing under any circumstances. But it didn’t take long for Swifties and NFL fans to notice one of the songs appears to take a shot at Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
Swift’s creatively named The Tortured Poets Department record includes a song, The Alchemy, that appears to touch on her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, featuring lyrics that evoke images from KC’s Super Bowl win (‘Where’s the trophy? He just came running to me”).
But there are a couple of lines in the chorus that fans are convinced are aimed at Toney: “When I touch down, call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team,” Swift sings. “Ditch the clowns, get the crown.”
Toney earned the wrath of Chiefs fans when he got called for offsides to nullify a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 10. On the play, Kelce caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes, then lateraled the ball to Toney, who went in for a touchdown.
The play was an instant “Play of the Year” contender … until Toney’s penalty got it called back.
Rex Ryan on the big offsides call: "You know I like toes. I don't like this toe."
Ryan Clark: "Kadarius Toney, if you turn Rex against feet, you're a bad man." pic.twitter.com/XaSBI0V0ro
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 11, 2023
NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano actually predicted at the time Swift would get in a dig at Toney on her next release.
Taylor Swift is going to subtly destroy Kadarius Toney on the next album.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 11, 2023
Toney, of course, didn’t endear himself to the Chiefs or fans later in the season, going on a profane rant on social media disputing he was on the inactive list because of an injury.
So there’s plenty of anti-Toney fuel there to inspire some lyrics. Whether Taylor Swift aimed those lines at Toney or not remains to be seen, but social media quickly latched onto the idea.
Speculation is rising that Taylor Swift is talking about Kadarius Toney in her new song pic.twitter.com/8JTNQLm9XA
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) April 19, 2024
https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1781321943532093444
https://twitter.com/McDuffiefan/status/1781315985988899316
https://twitter.com/bsteiger007/status/1781305145243918438
Taylor Swift making a Kadarius Toney diss track is a funny crossover
— Jonathan Girello (@JRGirello) April 19, 2024
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.