Travis Kelce celebrated Taylor Swift’s close friend and longtime collaborator, Jack Antonoff, on his 40th birthday earlier this year.
In a photo recently shared on Instagram by Antonoff’s wife, actress Margaret Qualley, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end can be seen sitting at a table next to his wife, looking cheerful as he beams at Qualley, 29, who is wrapping her arm around Antonoff’s feisty sister, Rachel Antonoff, a musician from Bleachers.
Kelsey, 34, wore black pants and a plaid shirt to the celebration. Swift, also 34, was not in the photos.
“40 ❤️,” Qualley captioned the post.
Antonoff celebrated his 40th birthday on March 31, when Swift happened to be on a break from international dates on her Hellas Tour, and although she wasn’t photographed, it looks like she and her boyfriend were able to attend the lavish party together.
Many fans praised Kelsey for attending Antonoff’s bash, with one TikTok user writing, “I love that Kelsey is making an effort to get to know her friends, especially one of her best friends, Jack!”
“It’s a pretty public statement for Margaret to choose these photos.” X users were enthusiastic.
A third fan agreed, saying: Tweet“It certainly feels like a very significant endorsement and milestone 😏.”
Kelsey and Swift, who have been dating since July last year, were last seen opening for Antonoff at Coachella in April while his band was performing at the famous music festival in Indio, California.
After the performance, Bleachers drummer Shawn Hutchinson shared a photo of the group hanging out together backstage at Coachella, and fans were thrilled to see the NFL star affectionately wrapped around the “Anti-Hero” singer’s arm in the sweet snapshot.
They were also seen getting openly affectionate while watching the artist’s performance from the auditorium.
Swift and Antonoff have been friends since 2012 and have collaborated on several of Swift’s albums, including “Reputation,” “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore” and “Midnights.” The two also participated in Swift’s re-recordings.
“He’s incredibly talented and I’ve been so blessed to have been able to make music with him since we made the album 1989,” the 14-time Grammy winner raved during her acceptance speech for Song of the Year at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. “We’ll continue to work together until 2089.”
Swift has paid tribute to Kelsey as well, changing the lyrics of “Karma” to “Karma’s a Chiefs man, come straight to me” and replacing “Screen,” a tribute to former actor Joe Alwyn, with “Chiefs.”
The “Cats” actress spoke candidly about her desire to celebrate their romance in Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year profile.
“Being public in our relationship means that I get to watch him do what he loves, that we’re committed to each other, and that we don’t care if other people are around,” she explained.
“The flip side of that is having to work so hard to make sure no one knows you’re dating someone. We’re just proud of each other.”
