Some fans are convinced that Taylor Swift's gesture to Teyana Taylor is shade thrown at Travis Kelce's ex, Kayla Nicole.
Swift just released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Oct. 3, and she sent Teyana a box set and a personal note. The "Hard Part" singer shared the photo of the box set on her Instagram Story this week and captioned it, “Thank you Tay Tay!!”
On the note, Swift wrote, “Well hi! If you’re someone who has shown love, someone I admire and ultimately someone I’d want to celebrate with as we welcome The Life of a Showgirl into the world, I hope you like the gifts and record! With love, a showgirl named Taylor Swift."
How is this connected to Kayla Nicole?
Last year, Kayla Nicole went viral for sharing the time when she dressed up as the girl whom a guy she was dating dumped her for.
“We weren’t in a relationship, but … I was dating a guy,” she told WNBA star Angel Reese on her podcast, Unapologetically Angel. “He dumped me through a text message … for this singer/actress who was famous at the time.”
Kayla Nicole tells Angel the pettiest thing she has done in a relationship 🤣😅
— Unapologetically Angel (@angelreeseshow) October 11, 2024
Watch full episode here: https://t.co/07Am4V3H0L pic.twitter.com/cUFwIEHnqv
While Kayla Nicole never mentioned Iman Shumpert by name, fans figured it out that she was dating him as she dressed up as Teyana from Kanye West's "Fade" music video. Shumpert and Teyana got married in 2016 and they share two children together. However, they got divorced in 2024 following Teyana's filing for divorce in 2023.
Once Kayla Nicole's admission went viral, Teyana commented on The Shade Room's post of the story.
“She knew exactly what she was doing. That lady said, ‘She was famous at the time,’ also said, ‘idc who see it,’ it was very distasteful and uncalled for,” Teyana wrote in the blog's comment section at the time.“Dressing up like me for what?? Crazy part about it all is, I actually showed love under her pic when she posted it! Like I did the other 3736262626 people that dressed up as me for Halloween.”
Now that Swift shared some Life of a Showgirl merch with Teyana, fans believe it was some subtle shade to Kayla Nicole who dated Travis Kelce -- Swift's now fiancé -- from 2017-2022.
"Last year, almost to the day, Kayla Nicole went on Angel Reese podcast and talked about getting dumped by an NBA player and dressing up as the girl she got dumped for for Halloween. That was Teyana Taylor that she was shading. A week ago, @taylorswift13 went on @jimmyfallon and said the last movie she watched was the one starring the one and only, Teyana Taylor lol. She praised all the actors," a fan wrote on X.
The fan wants credit if it comes out that it was actually shade from Swift, which most likely is something that the singer would not admit to, as she previously shared how she is a fan of the actress, and it could simply be a coincidence.
"Taylor swift is a GD mastermind and I love it," the fan continued. "I have seen NO ONE catch this…. If it starts going viral, remember where you heard it first."
Last year, almost to the day, Kayla Nicole went on Angel Reese podcast and talked about getting dumped by an NBA player and dressing up as the girl she got dumped for for Halloween. That was Teyana Taylor that she was shading. A week ago, @taylorswift13 went on @jimmyfallon and… pic.twitter.com/WJ4sTUNgZX
— Nosey Ren (@_NoseyRen) October 15, 2025
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