In today’s celebrity gossip landscape, where relationships often unfold like a dramatic plot twist, comedian Bill Maher took aim at Taylor Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, suggesting their love story may have overstayed its welcome. Swift, who has captivated audiences not just with her chart-topping hits but also with her ever-evolving romantic history, reportedly started dating Kelce in 2023—right around the time she became a fixture at his games. But hey, who isn’t keeping score in the world of high-profile love affairs? Meanwhile, Swift’s loyal fanbase isn’t laughing along with Maher, taking to social media to voice their outrage over his comments. Are we watching a classic case of comedy gone wrong, or is Maher just trying to stay relevant by poking fun at one of pop culture’s darlings? Let’s dive into this comedic kerfuffle and see what all the fuss is about!
The pop star has been dating the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end since 2023, around the same time she began appearing at his games. But according to Maher, their relationship has gone on for too long, seemingly referencing the fact that the singer has had multiple past relationships.
Many Taylor Swift fans did not find Bill Maher’s joke funny and took to social media to slam the comedian.
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In a recent episode of his show, Bill Maher made a dig at Taylor Swift’s romance with football player Travis Kelce.
The joke began with Maher delivering a series of remarks about President Donald Trump’s approach to international affairs before pivoting to Swift for the punchline.
“This world is so upside down now. It took [President] Trump three weeks to break up with Ukraine and Mexico, and Canada,” the comedian said on his show, “Real Time With Bill Maher.”
“And yet, Taylor Swift has the same boyfriend for over a year,” he added.
Interestingly, Maher also shared on X (formerly Twitter) a clip of himself making the joke and captioned it with the same remarks, implying he was not scared of the potential backlash.
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The world is upside down. It only took Trump weeks to break up with Ukraine, Mexico, and Canada, but Taylor Swift has had the same boyfriend for over a year. pic.twitter.com/2mPVyejd87
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) March 8, 2025
In the wake of the joke going viral, several social media users slammed Maher over the remarks he made about Swift.
“Taylor Swift’ humor’ is low hanging fruit. Boo, Bill. Boo,” a user commented to which another replied “Bill seems obsessed with her. Every week, another cheap, not funny, shot.”
“I don’t like Taylor Swift, but it is such a lame thing this old man making jokes about the romantic life of a woman. It is so 1980. Pathetic,” a user remarked.
Someone else noted, “I think the girl might need a restraining order at this point; he’s obviously obsessed with her.”
Another individual commented, “The dating jokes were creepy when she was a teenager but now they’re just lame.”
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“If you’re going to joke about the U.S turning on its allies & aligning with a dictator, it needs to be creative with a strong punchline,” someone else penned on X.
One more person wrote, “Seems you need to mention Taylor Swift to stay relevant…”
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Amid the widespread attention surrounding Swift’s relationship with Kelce, the couple continues to thrive and remains strong.
On several occasions, Swift has been seen attending Kelce’s games, including his Super Bowl win last year and the unfortunate loss this year.
Meanwhile, Kelce also made appearances during the pop star’s recently concluded Eras Tour despite having a busy football schedule at the time.
Clearly, the duo enjoy supporting each other, a notion that Swift once confirmed in an interview.
“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” Swift said during an interview for her Time‘s person of the year cover in 2023.
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She added, “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”
At the time, Swift also shared some insight into the timeline of her relationship with Kelce, saying they began dating after he “adorably put me on blast” on the “New Heights” podcast.
“We started hanging out right after that,” Swift revealed about her relationship with the tight end. “So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other.”
Swift also mentioned that they were already an item at the time she showed up for her first Chiefs game on September 24, seemingly to refute rumors that had swirled about that appearance being their first date.
“By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple,” she added. “We would never be psychotic enough to hard-launch a first date.”
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It was recently revealed that the couple’s romance led to increased profits for the NFL.
According to MarketWatch, from September 23, 2023, to January 28, 2024, Swift and Kelce’s romance helped generate an impressive $366,753,290 in total equivalent brand value for the NFL.
The timeline was noted to be the date of that year’s AFC Championship game, which Swift was often seen attending Kelce’s games.
Additionally, their romance added an estimated $634,304,163 in equivalent brand value from the day after the 2024 AFC Championship through January 27, 2025.
The NFL has reaped nearly $1 billion in brand value, reportedly driven by increased merchandise sales and ticket purchases.