Kayla Nicole has responded to all the backlash she’s gotten amid her ex-boyfriend Travis Kelce’s budding romance with Taylor Swift.
“Your God is louder and your tribe is stronger,” said the brainy beauty in an eloquent message.
The model took to Instagram on Monday to give her take on all of the attention, “backlash and embarrassment” she’s been receiving lately in a lengthy open letter. Before reading her sentiments, the 31-year-old directed her words to “Black women, specifically,” going on to explain that her intention was “not to create division but to elevate and unite” viewers.
“They may call you a traitor for falling in love. You’ll hope the ones closest will protect you but quickly realize people don’t protect what they don’t value,” Nicole began in her Instagram video.
“They’ll say you’re too much, and in the same breath, tell you you’re not enough,” she continued. “Not successful enough, not wholesome enough, maybe not even intelligent enough. They’ll even try to tie your value to your net worth.”
While she didn’t reference her ex-boyfriend–whom she dated on and off from 2017 to 2022–by name, she encouraged her followers, Black girls in particular, not to “participate in this tumultuous, often one-sided journey” and to not “engage.”
“Preserve your heart even when they try to quantify your character and test your boundaries,” Kayla said. “You do not have to respond. Because there is power in your silence.”
The public figure went on to add that while she has been tempted to ask “Why me?” as of late, she won’t “give in to this demoralizing and antiquated narrative” by responding to the headlines.
“I know I’m not alone,” she continued. “On days I feel most inadequate, I have to remind myself that I am, have been and will always be more than enough.”
She concluded her message by saying:
“When the world gets dark and time gets hard and you feel like your back is against the wall and your hands are tied and nobody knows what it’s like to be you…this is only a small chapter in your story.”
Nicole’s powerful message on social media comes just two weeks after Kelce and Swift made their romance public when they left the Kansas City Chiefs versus Chicago Bears game together on Sept. 24. Amid their budding relationship, many fans and media outlets have brought Kayla’s name into the mix, inferring how she might feel about her ex’s newfound super fame.
While Nicole never said anything about Swift’s very public appearance at Kelce’s game, she unfollowed Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany Mahomes, after her former friend hung out with Swift, according to Page Six.