Chiefs jersey signed by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sells for $15K. Was it a fake?
It was the star of the show at a fundraiser for a Canadian charity — a red, No. 87 Kansas City Chiefs jersey autographed by the hot couple of the moment, tight end Travis Kelce and pop superstar Taylor Swift.
The item raised more than $15,000 for a charity that grants wishes to children facing medical challenges. But collectibles experts now say it might be a fake.
The charity, which says it benefited from the fundraiser but did not organize it, issued a statement on social media over the weekend:
“In light of the questions surrounding the authenticity of some of the items up for auction during the Curling Event, the Guelph Wish Fund for Children would like to address this issue.
“All items, including the jersey signed by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, were generously donated at this third-party community event.
“As a result, we are currently unable to verify the authenticity of these items and ask that any winning bidders with concerns or questions to please reach out to the event organizers.
“Our organization is committed to transparency and would like to apologize for any confusion this situation has caused.”
The charity, which operates along the lines of the Make a Wish Foundation, is located in Guelph, about 40 miles west of downtown Toronto. The fundraiser was organized by a Guelph automotive manufacturer that raises money for the wish fund each year.
In an email to The Star on Tuesday, Jessica Hill, the fund’s interim executive director, said the charity is “not granting interviews about this third party event” beyond what it said in its earlier statement.
But she added that “winning bidders who have contacted the charity with concerns about their purchases have had their concerns addressed with the event organizer.”
According to CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.), the framed Kelce jersey with the autographs was originally set to be included in a silent auction. But interest was so high it went up for auction online.
News of the jersey reached more than half a million people on X, formerly Twitter, within just a few hours after charity officials made it public, according to CBC.
The network reported that the jersey was donated by sports memorabilia collector Scottie (NineToe) Johnston, who before the event told CBC “the jersey is unique as it is signed by both Kelce and Swift” and that he hoped it would raise at least $5,000.
The winning bid was three times that in American dollars.
The jersey was framed along with a photo of Kelce and Swift together after the Chiefs won the AFC Championship in January. A Patrick Mahomes jersey was also auctioned.
Johnston declined to be interviewed by local online news site GuelphToday, which a few days ago published a lengthy examination of what happened.
Johnston “referred communication via email through someone he identified as his lawyer,” who declined to disclose how Johnston acquired the Kelce jersey, the news site wrote.
“Johnston did write in a Facebook message response to GuelphToday, ‘My response is ask them to prove it’s not real.’”
In an interview Tuesday with a Toronto radio station, collectibles expert Aaron Logan said the jersey’s authenticity had concerned the local collectibles community before the auction, and many people had contacted local media outlets with those concerns.
Wish fund officials told CBC the jersey had authenticity certificates.
“There was a large group of us in the collectibles industry in the Toronto area who kind of all started sharing this information pretty quickly and everybody’s red flags were going up,” said longtime sports memorabilia expert Logan, owner of The Heritage Stick Co.
“It was all too good to be true. Everything that was being shown in their online YouTube video of the donor donating these 11 greatest artists and athletes items, all perfectly signed on unlicensed, fake jerseys. It all made us kind of cringe.”
In her email to The Star, Hill said because the wish fund was not involved with organizing the auction, “we do not possess authenticity documentation for the auction items, and we cannot disclose any confidential donor or purchase information.
“If there are other winning bidders who have concerns or questions about their auction purchases, we encourage them to reach out to the event organizers.
“We are thankful to the community partner who organized the event for so quickly addressing the concerns of these winning bidders.
“We would like to again express our gratitude to the event donors and dedicated volunteers in our community who organize this annual event in support of important social causes in our community.”
.jpg)