Taylor Swift Gets Bad News Amid Travis Kelce’s Return to Chiefs

After months of speculation, Travis Kelce is officially rejoining the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2026 NFL season.

At age 36, and a Hall of Fame career already under his belt, many believed Kelce was ready to hang up his cleats for good — especially amid his upcoming nuptials with fiancée, Taylor Swift.

But Kelce has unfinished business after the Chiefs finished the season 6-11 and failed to clinch a playoff berth for the first time in a decade.ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the three-time Super Bowl champion is signing a one-year, $12 million deal with a max value of $15 million for what will be his 14th season in the league.

Cheering Kelce on as he returns to Kansas City, his No. 1 fan, Swift. Kelce proposed to Swift in August, and they’re reportedly set to tie the knot before training camp starts.

While Chiefs Kingdom celebrated Kelce’s big announcement on March 9, Swift received some frustrating news.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Suspended Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ Trademark

Swift drew inspiration for her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” while traveling the globe during the “Eras Tour” amid her romance with Kelce. The album made history, selling 4.002 million units in its opening-week debut. The first single, “The Fate of Ophelia,” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Despite the historic success, Swift hit a roadblock after TAS Rights Management, LLC, tried to register “The Life of a Showgirl” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The USTPO issued a suspension notice due to a preexisting trademark registration for “Confessions of a Showgirl” by Marin Wade in 2015. Wade is a cabaret performer and author with a show in Las Vegas.

Gerben Law surmised, “The examining attorney noted that the marks share a key phrase: ‘Of A Showgirl.’ While Swift’s mark uses the wording ‘The Life’ and the existing registration uses ‘Confessions,’ the USPTO determined that those differences were “not enough to obviate the similarities of the marks.”

The USTPO must first determine the pending application for the fragrance “Showgirl” by Harlem Brands, which filed for a trademark before Swift in December 2024.

“In addition to the ‘Confessions Of A Showgirl’ mark, the USPTO also found that a pending application for ‘Showgirl’ for a brand of fragrances and perfume might also be cited against Swift’s application if it registers (noting that Swift’s claim for a brand of candles in her application would be too similar to the fragrance brand).”

While Josh Gerben, Esq. believes there’s a “60-70% chance that a responsive argument would be successful” for Swift, “the biggest issue here may be in the short term… This type of suspension will keep Swift’s trademark from being registered in the near future (perhaps for a year or two). This can potentially cause issues with enforcement in instances where having the registration would be helpful.”