Intro for October 8, 2025

Dear Gossips, 

Taylor Swift stepped out in New York last night for dinner with Jerrod Carmichael in a very Taylor outfit: black turtleneck, kilt, cognac boots, Dior bag. We’ve seen her in variations of this over the years, it’s a uniform that works. 

Taylor of course continues to be visible for The Life of a Showgirl. The first sales week has always been important to her and, no doubt, she’s going for another record. Billboard just reported this morning that she’s taken down Adele’s album 25 and there’s still a full day of sales reporting to go in the week. 

So, as usual, the hype and controversy and intrigue and cringe and cuteness and general overall muchness of Taylor has worked in her favour – she’s banking so she’s winning. Which renders all the bitching about her kinda irrelevant in terms of impact. The term “too big to fail” usually applies to corporations. It could, now though, apply to her. She is too big to fail. 

Meanwhile, there’s a new episode of New Heights that just dropped today and it makes sense that Jason and Travis Kelce are extending the media push for the album since this is where it started, where she announced that the album is coming. Of course this is the part of their conversation that’s popping off the most as Jason asks Travis about the spotlight his penis is getting on The Life of a Showgirl and those who wanted to know what Travis thinks about (his) “Wood” are finally getting their answer. 

 

I haven’t listened to the entire episode but Travis does seem to be brushing off direct discussion about his cock which… it’s the only move. She made him world-famous, she’s now made his dick world-famous. He doesn’t need to, um, enhance its profile. And while I generally very much appreciate Jason’s skills as a broadcaster, his cracking energy is the key ingredient of this show, I really wish he chose a different tree other than “Japanese maple”. This is triggering for me as an Asian person because of the stereotype about Asian men and the size of their endowments. And before you roll your eyes, because I know some of you will, I am fully aware that there was likely no intent behind Jason’s off-the-cuff comment. But it can be an opportunity to remind all of us intent vs impact. 

Back to Travis though, and what else he said about Taylor’s album launch, I continue to be impressed by how he never seizes the opportunity where Taylor is concerned to be the final boy. When Jason tells Travis that he is “the main creative muse” behind Taylor’s songwriting on Showgirl, he pivoted back to her (via Us Weekly): 

“I’m just the lucky man that gets to be, you know, the support system for Taylor while she drops one of the coolest albums that I’ve ever listened to, that the world’s seen. I’m excited for her. I’m happy for her. Everything seems to have gone perfectly, all this planning.”

He then proceeds to talk about how hard she worked and how she did it while on tour and it’s a graceful way to sidestep any muse-ings and keep the credit on the main character. From the start of their relationship, I have always singled out this quality as the secret sauce to why they work. And Travis continues to model it – organically and earnestly. 

And that, for what it’s worth, is the real wood that she’s getting off on. 

Yours in gossip, 

Lainey