Singer Teyana Taylor has been dragged into the controversy over Taylor Swift‘s new album “The Life of a Showgirl.”
A post intended to praise the “Honey” artist has fans reading between the lines and connecting the dots to a woman who has had ties to Travis Kelce and Taylor’s ex-husband, Iman Shumpert: Kayla Nicole. Here’s what went down online.
In a since-deleted post on her Instagram Story, Taylor thanked Swift for gifting her the album and shared a picture of the box set she received.
The post included a handwritten letter from Swift that was seemingly given to several people she had gifted her album.
“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,” Swift wrote. “I hope you like the gifts and record! With love, a showgirl named Taylor Swift.”
Taylor shared the post with the caption, “Thank you Tay Tay!!”
Swifties now believe the “Cruel Summer” singer was shading Nicole with the gift. Fans recalled how Nicole once dressed as Taylor from Kanye West’s “Fade” video for Halloween in revenge on Shumpert, using the moment to call out Swift’s alleged shade.
“She only sent it because Teyana talked mess about Kayla,” wrote one. “When folks that don’t like you link up.”
Another said, “Remember when Travis’s ex was flexing on Teyana Taylor in Angel’s interview? What’d she say again about Teyana’s popularity?
Nicole recalled the experience during Angel Reese’s podcast “Unapologetically Angel” back in 2024. She said she’d moved to New York to be with Shumpert, and he broke up with her via text.
“We weren’t in a relationship, but … I was dating a guy,” said Nicole about the former New York Knicks player. “He dumped me through a text message … for this singer/actress who was famous at the time. Dumped me for her. He lied about it for months, then popped out with her. It became this public thing, like, ‘Oh, my God, we love them.'”
She later confessed, “I dressed up as that lady for Halloween.”
Teyana Taylor Responds To Kayla Nicole’s Crazy Relationship Story About Iman Shumpert Dumping Her . pic.twitter.com/BZhSzDHViQ
— The CelebLenz (@Celeblenz) October 13, 2024
Therefore, Taylor’s new post has some claiming she still harbors feelings toward Nicole over a possible overlap in when she and Iman dated.
“Ohh some people don’t get it yet, but Taylor getting messy this era and I love it,” said one person. Another more shocked individual wrote, “The same Teyana that collabed with Kanye? Taylor must be really jealous of Kayla bc this is crazy lol.”
It’s unclear what year Nicole and Shumpert were romantically involved. But he began dating Teyana in 2013 and got married in 2016.
After Nicole indirectly admitted to dressing up as Taylor on Halloween, the recording artist responded with a post set to the Taylor Swift song, “Shake It Off,” per People. The post included several projects Taylor was working on, including nabbing the starring role as Dionne Warwick in her upcoming biopic.
She captioned the post, “I know 2025 gone hate to see a Taylor coming!! Me: You did ya big one. God: AND DID.”
In another post, the Harlem songstress called out Nicole for her unique and indirect choice of words about Iman and for attaching her name to nonsense. “That lady said ‘she was famous at the time’ also said ‘idc who see it.’ It was very distasteful and uncalled for,” said Taylor, who believed the act was “ill and petty.”
She then accused Nicole of trying to pick on “The black woman that was married to her situationship she claimed “dumped her’ for me. Dressing up like me for what?”
Taylor filed for divorce from Shumpert in 2023, as previously reported, which was finalized in July 2024. They share two daughters, 9-year-old Iman Junie and 4-year-old Rue Rose. She is currently dating “Rebel Ridge” actor Aaron Pierre.
A year after Taylor and Iman’s wedding, Kayla dated Kelce off and on from 2017 through 2022. After their split, the Kansas City Chiefs player began dating Swift in 2023, around the same time Nicole began complaining about the negative online attention and threats she received from the singer’s fanbase.
Swift, 35, recently dropped her 12th album on Oct. 3, and fans immediately zeroed in on the track “Opalite” as a possible jab at Nicole, 33, who dated Kelce for five years. The lyrics seem to call out Kelce’s pre-Swift love life: “You were in it for real, she was in her phone and you were just a pose…”
Adding fuel to the fire, Nicole posted an Instagram clip from America’s Next Top Model, quoting Eva Marcille. When Tyra Banks asked the season three winner, “How do you compare yourself to the other girls out there?” Marcille responded: “I don’t compare myself to other girls … I’m no comparison to anyone else.”
Fans may never know if Taylor’s cryptic post was a friendly nod or a well-placed jab, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from turning her message into a full-blown decoding session. Between that and Swift allegedly taking lyrical shots, many think it’s open season on Nicole, and the shade might be coming from all directions.
