Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift announced their engagement on Tuesday, August 26, with a series of garden photos that showed off Swift’s sparkling diamond ring. The post, captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨,” quickly made headlines and drew massive attention online. But while fans celebrated the couple, Kelce’s ex, Kayla Nicole, found herself back in the crosshairs of social media chatter.

Nicole, a Black woman and former partner of the Kansas City Chiefs star, has faced harassment from parts of Swift’s fanbase since Kelce began dating the pop star. This week, her Instagram comments were filled with taunts, reminders, and jabs about her past relationship.

“Girl I remember you saying you won’t go 50/50 with a man…,” one comment read. “Here after the engagement was announced,” and “I know you punching the air rn.” 

The attacks weren’t just typical fan teasing; they reflected a broader pattern of racialized harassment directed at her, underscoring how Black women are often unfairly scrutinized in high-profile relationships.

Rather than engage with the negativity, she redirected her energy by sharing a video of Tracee Ellis Ross speaking about joy as a daily practice, describing it as a perspective and a lens through which to view life. The media personality reflected on her own journey, citing Kay Warren’s book “Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough,” writing that she aspires to live with joy and works at it consistently.

Kayla’s response underscores a larger point: even as outsiders attempt to reduce her to an ex or drag her into conversations about Kelce’s life, she continues to carve out her own space. She emphasizes growth, peace, and self-reflection over feeding into online attacks. Against the backdrop of racist harassment and ongoing commentary about her past, she positioned joy as her shield, showing that resilience often looks like refusing to let the noise define you.