Claim:
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce donated $300,000 to save a 2-year-old (or a baby) with brain cancer and announced an $80 million plan to build a free orphanage.
Rating:
A rumor that circulated online in late November 2025 claimed Taylor Swift and her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, donated $300,000 to save a 2-year-old (or a baby) with brain cancer. The matter further alleged the star couple announced an $80 million plan to build a free orphanage for children in need of housing.
For example, on Nov. 29, a user managing a Facebook page named The News 247 posted (archived) the story with an image of Swift and Kelce appearing on Kelce’s “New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce” podcast, as well as a picture of a toddler in a hospital bed and a building displaying a sign reading, “Taylor Swift Orphanage.”
(The News 247/Facebook)
The post, which claimed social media “exploded” at the alleged news and featured a comment leading to an advertisement-filled blog article, began as follows:
BREAKING NEWS SHAKING AMERICA: TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE SPENT 300,000 USD TO FIGHT FOR THE LIFE OF A 2-YEAR-OLD BABY WITH “BRAIN CANCER” — AND ANNOUNCED THE PLAN TO BUILD THE LARGEST FREE ORPHANAGE IN THE UNITED STATES WORTH 80 MILLION USD.
Not a stage, not an award show, not the dazzling lights of Hollywood — what silenced America today was the compassion of two people standing at the center of the world. Within 24 hours, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce quietly covered the entire 300,000 USD medical cost to save a 2-year-old girl battling brain cancer. That silent yet powerful act made social media explode, as millions witnessed a rare moment of kindness in a chaotic era.
But the biggest shock was still to come. Immediately after the information was confirmed, the couple announced the plan to build the largest free orphanage in the United States, an 80-million-USD project for children without shelter and those in vulnerable situations. Not an empty promise — but a commitment, a concrete step toward real change.
Other Facebook users shared the same rumor, including in a post (archived) on the Forever Folk Song Facebook page. A Snopes reader also asked via email about the matter.
In short, the rumor about Swift and Kelce was false and featured text — both in the post and article — generated with artificial intelligence. Facebook’s “page transparency” information for The News 247 (click “News & media website,” then “Transparency and privacy policy”) and Forever Folk Song (click “Fan page,” then “Transparency and privacy policy”) indicated their managers resided in Vietnam. The user or users behind the creation of the fabricated story sought to earn advertising revenue from readers clicking to read their blog articles.
Snopes contacted the Wondery podcast company, which manages “New Heights,” by email to ask if Kelce wished to comment about this matter. We also reached out via email to a company associated with representing Swift to see if they would release a statement and will update this story if we receive further information.
In April 2025, People.com reported Kelce appeared to deny on his podcast a similar rumor claiming he purchased a $3.3 million home and planned to turn it into a living facility for homeless youth. At the 1:14:34 mark in the April 9 episode, Kelce didn’t mention the specific rumor but did say, “This time I wasn’t doing what was falsely claimed by the social channels or the outlets posting all this AI stuff.” He advised viewers to visit 87running.org to find authentic information about his charitable efforts.
False rumor possibly based on true story
Whoever used an AI tool to generate the fabricated post and article possibly based the tale on a credibly reported story published by People.com and other outlets from October 2025, telling of how Swift — with no mention of Kelce — donated $100,000 to help the family of a 2-year-old toddler living with brain cancer.
Additionally, in December 2024, USA Today reported Swift donated $250,000 to a Kansas City-based child-care organization to which Kelce previously donated his money and efforts.
More about the rumor
Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no news media outlets credibly reporting any information about Swift and Kelce specifically donating $300,000 to a child cancer patient or planning an $80 million orphanage, or of social media “exploding” due to any such acts. Prominent outlets would have widely reported the rumor, if true.
The end of the Facebook posts’ text featured the same sort of dramatized, sometimes forward-thinking wording similar to the way AI tools conclude AI-generated text. That text read, “Today, America isn’t talking about hit songs or victories on the field. America is talking about compassion, about hope, and about a future where small, fragile children have the chance to live, to be loved, and to be protected.”
Many other fabricated past rumors featuring AI-generated images and/or text claimed Swift and Kelce donated their money and/or their time to efforts surrounding the July 2025 Texas flash floods, an elderly couple who fostered children, victims in the Jeffrey Epstein case and the family of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
For further reading, Snopes previously reported on a false story claiming Kelce donated his “entire” $12.9 million in bonuses and endorsements to a homeless housing initiative.
Sources
Longmire, Becca. “Travis Kelce Hits Back at ‘False Claims’ About His Community Work amid Rumors He Bought a House to Turn It into Homeless Shelter.” People.com, 9 Apr. 2025, https://people.com/travis-kelce-hits-back-false-claims-community-work-rumors-bought-house-homeless-shelter-11711821.
Noveck, Jocelyn, and Dave Skretta. “Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Are Engaged.” The Associated Press, 26 Aug. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-engaged-d585627eb98b69428ce206a2c8a9cb7d.
Phillipp, Charlotte. “Taylor Swift Donates $100K to Toddler Fighting Brain Cancer: ‘Sending the Biggest Hug.'” People.com, 17 Oct. 2025, https://people.com/taylor-swift-donates-100k-to-young-fan-battling-cancer-sending-biggest-hug-11832389.
“Taylor Swift Drops $100K Donation to NC Toddler with Brain Cancer; Mom Shares Journey on TikTok.” ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, 21 Oct. 2025, https://abc11.com/post/lilah-smoot-taylor-swift-donates-100k-north-carolina-toddler-brain-cancer-mom-tiktok-videos/18041857/.
West, Bryan. “Taylor Swift Donates $250,000 to Organization Travis Kelce Has Supported for Last Decade.” USA Today, 22 Dec. 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/12/22/taylor-swift-kansas-city-operation-breakthrough-donation/77134418007/.
Winter, Emery. “Story about Travis Kelce Donating Bonus, Endorsements to Homeless Nonprofit Still False.” Snopes, 11 Sept. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/homeless-nonprofit-bonus-travis-kelce/.
