CJ Gardner-Johnson, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. (Image: Getty.)
Philadelphia Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson has faced backlash after appearing to take a swipe at and following the .
The defensive back helped his side defeat Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in a huge rout that ended hopes of a three-peat.
Rubbing salt into the wounds, Gardner-Johnson seemingly mocked Kelce over his ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole.
Nicole, who was , was the subject of Gardner-Johnson’s story.
He posted a photo of himself standing next to Kelce at the Super Bowl with the caption: “Should’ve stayed w that thick s****.”
He appeared to be referencing Kelce and Nicole’s break-up in 2022, having dated on-and-off for five years, before Kelce announced he was in a relationship with pop star Swift the following year.
However, the songwriter’s loyal fanbase, dubbed ‘Swifties’, attempted to get their revenge on the new Super Bowl winner.
They bombarded a restaurant owned by Gardner-Johnson’s mother, Delatron Johnson, with one-star reviews on Google. Many described the establishment as “horrible” and “underwhelming”.
Kayla Nicole alongside Travis Kelce. (Image: Getty)
Google has since removed all recent reviews left on the page and Yelp have disabled comments on King’s Grill eatery due to an “Unusual Activity Alert”.
Delatron Johnson has hit back at the fake reviews, telling : “I have friends who were sending me the screenshots. They were going, ‘Oh my god, look at this!’ And the first thing everyone said was: ‘the Swifties have attacked’.
“Yes, we’ve seen all the reviews. The joke is really on the Swifties and everyone entertaining the reviews because Kings Grill is closed.”
The Florida-based restaurant has been closed since January 25, rendering the reviews inconsequential.
Gardner-Johnson’s mother and her husband are opening up a new restaurant, where they held a Super Bowl watch party, as their son won his first championship.
“There is really no backlash because we are in the process of selling Kings Grill anyways,” she said. “It didn’t affect us one way or another.
“We’ve been dealing with this since he was a kid. He talks the talk ’cause he can back it up. The same thing with his mother, I talk the talk because I can back it up.”
Gardner-Johnson almost made matters worse for Kelce and the Chiefs inside the Caesars Superdrome, when Patrick Mahomes threw an interception to him in desperation mode, which was returned for a 98-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
However, Jalen Carter had jumped offside and the score was nullified. He did take 21 seconds off the clock, a matter that would have enraged the opposition if the scoreline was closer, before the Eagles ran out convincing winners.