The New York Times has been lampooned in recent days over an article about Travis Kelce’s haircut, with many critics claiming it's proof the Gray Lady doesn’t have enough diversity on its staff.
The Times published a story last week headlined, "They’ll Take the Travis Kelce — Hairdo, That Is," which featured a subhead that said, "Not since Jennifer Aniston has a haircut become so popular. Barbers, in America and abroad, are being inundated with requests for ‘the Travis Kelce.’"
The feature story kicked off with Jeffrey Dugas, a Canada-based barber, saying customers have been entering his shop with a photo of the Kansas City Chiefs standout tight end asking for a similar look. Already an NFL star, Kelce's public profile has risen to new heights in the past year due to his relationship with music star Taylor Swift.
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In the fourth paragraph, Times writer Alyson Krueger noted that Kelce’s hairstyle is a "buzz cut fade" that is "easy to replicate." Critics quickly pointed out the piece never mentioned that the style has been popular in the Black community and other cultures for decades, or that it has long been commonplace in the military.
Former ESPN host Jemele Hill accused the Times of having "zero cultural competency" on its staff.
"The NYT thinks that Travis Kelce invented the fade," Hill responded alongside a facepalm emoji. "When you have zero cultural competency on your staff, this is how you end up with stories like this."
Hill later added, "My issue isn’t with Travis Kelce because he didn’t write this story nor has he ever claimed to invent this particular haircut. My issue is with the NYT for giving zero cultural context and failing to explain that fades have been popular for a very long time and it has a significant connection to Black culture."
Barstool Sports’ "KFC Radio" host Kevin Clancy published a video mocking the Times.
"The New York Times embarrasses itself once again with an article this week talking about Travis Kelce’s haircut, the fade, something that Black people have been getting for like 40 or 50 years they are now deeming ‘the Travis Kelce,’" Clancy said.
"This headline was so ridiculous I did something unprecedented, I paid for the New York Times to read the whole article. I figured the headline was clickbait and the very first line of the article would be like, ‘The fade, popular in Black culture for 40 years, is now being popularized by Travis with White people blah blah blah,’" Clancy continued. "Nope. Wrong…. No mention of Black culture, hip hop or the guy that popularized it. No mention of the military high and tight. Just a [expletive]-poor job."
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The sports media website Awful Announcing also scolded the Times.
"Black people are accustomed to seeing their cultural footprint diminished or erased by American media. There are myriad examples, including rock and roll, various dances, and hipster culture. Historically, media related to these topics play down or outright erase Black people’s roles surrounding them, either purposefully or out of a lack of awareness about the historical context," Awful Announcing’s Sean Keeley wrote.
"That’s how a lot of Black people saw the NY Times piece about the ‘Travis Kelce haircut,’ which seemed to frame something popular in Black culture for decades as an entirely new look originated by a famous White dude," Keeley continued. "It also didn’t help that the article was published right before Black History Month."
Keeley added that "you can push back on the criticism by saying the article doesn’t explicitly give Kelce credit for inventing the haircut," but he believes "that’s beside the point."
"After a lifetime of seeing their contributions cast aside, Black people can pretty quickly suss out when a writer or outlet doesn’t have the understanding necessary to talk fully about a topic that involves their cultural contributions," Keeley wrote.
Sports writer Clarence Hill Jr. posted on X that "diversity in media matters" alongside a link to the Times’ article.
FOX4 News Kansas City journalist Kristen Holloway added, "We give Travis credit for a lot. Future Hall of Famer, clutch player… etc but to stay this man originated the fade and calling it the ‘Travis Kelce’ is disrespectful to Black Culture. Black men have been wearing a fade or dark Caesar haircut since the beginning of time."
Many others have scolded the Times:
The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
