Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce not filmed 'falling off beach swing'

After Taylor Swift was pictured holidaying in the Bahamas with her boyfriend Travis Kelce, an old video from Thailand circulated in posts that falsely claimed it showed the pair falling off a beach swing. Social media users in Asia shared the video during the same month that the US pop star played a series of sold-out concerts in Singapore, leaving some neighbours unhappy about being left off the tour schedule.  

"Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce fall off a porch swing," reads the caption alongside a video shared on Facebook on March 26, 2024.

The clip -- viewed more than 48,000 times -- shows two people falling off a beach swing into the sea.

It was shared in a group with more than 800,000 members, many of whom were listed as based in the Philippines.

The post circulated following Swift's sold-out shows in Singapore -- the only Southeast Asian stop for her blockbuster Eras world tour.

The star's schedule sparked controversy in the music-mad region, with Singapore accused of throwing cash at Swift to stop her from appearing in other locations.

A lawmaker in the Philippines criticised the city-state, reportedly saying this was not "what good neighbours do".

The same video was shared alongside a similar false claim on Facebook and social media platform X.

Comments on the posts indicated some social media users were amused but others appeared to believe the claim.

"Seems legit, they're in the Bahamas now," one user said, appearing to reference reports the couple were on holiday on the Caribbean island.

"She'll write a song about this," wrote another.

Thailand beach

A reverse image search on Google of a keyframe from the video led to this Thai-language Facebook post published on October 31, 2018 (archived link).

The caption translates to English as, "Don't know if I should feel sorry or laugh at them."

It added the video was taken by a user named "Eve Wassana", who told AFP the footage was taken at a beach resort in southern Thailand.

"This video was taken in Koh Phangan, Thailand around six years ago, before the Covid-19 pandemic," Wassana told AFP on March 27.

Wassana did not disclose the identity of the people in the clip, but told AFP "they were definitely not Taylor and her current boyfriend".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video circulating online (left) and the 2018 post (right):

Wassana also shared with AFP a photo of the same location taken from a similar angle:

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the photo taken by Wassana (right):

The clip matches Google Maps imagery of a beachfront swing attached to two palm trees at a resort on the southern island of Koh Phangan (archived link).

Below is a screenshot of the location on Google Maps:

AFP has previously fact-checked misinformation about Swift and Kelce here and here.