Travis Kelce addresses backlash after article credits him with popularising the fade: ‘I didn’t invent that’

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Travis Kelce has addressed a backlash after a New York Times article credited him with popularising the tapered fade haircut.

The New York Times wrote that the Kansas City Chiefs tight finish was behind an uptick in males getting fades, going so far as to name it “the Travis Kelce” haircut. The article reported that Kelce’s particular taper fade has notably been in demand nationwide, with TikTok barbers recreating the types on their purchasers.

Some known as out the newspaper for crediting Kelce with the type and thereby ignoring the fashionable type’s roots in Black tradition. Sports journalist Jemele Hill went on to submit on X, previously often called Twitter, that the article gave “zero cultural context” about the fade’s rise in recognition and origins. She wrote, “When you have zero cultural competency on your staff, this is how you end up with stories like this.”

She continued, saying: “My issue isn’t with Travis Kelce because he didn’t write this story nor has he ever claimed to invent this particular haircut. My issue is with the NYT for giving zero cultural context and failing to explain that fades have been popular for a very long time and it has a significant connection to Black culture.”

The NFL participant himself denounced the notion that he was liable for the fade’s recognition and famous that it was particularly heinous that the NYT didn’t give credit score the place it was due throughout Black History Month.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Kelce advised a reporter throughout a Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night press convention. “And to do it on February 1st to throw me into the wolves like that, that was messed up, man. I don’t want anything to do with that one, man.”

“I got a good fade if you need it though, it’s two on top, a nice high to mid-fade with a taper in the back,” he continued, revealing what he particularly asks for when he goes to the barber. “But I didn’t invent that, I just asked for it.”

This isn’t the first time the outlet was known as out for its lack of “cultural competency,” with Hill having beforehand lambasted them for reporting on Kelce’s pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift “swag surfing,” a dance that has been round since 2009 and popularised by Black college students.

However, in contrast to the Kelce article, the “swag surfing” article acknowledges the dance’s roots and historical past in Black tradition. They cited theNew Yorker’s description of the dance, writing that it’s thought of “staple at HBCUs,” and is part of a longstanding custom of younger black individuals dancing proudly and unabashedly.