AI Falsely Claimed Travis Kelce Donated A House To The Homeless, Meanwhile Another NFL Star Quietly Did
It's sad that people are inundated with AI-generated news and don't hear about real stories of giving.
Featureflash Photo Agency | Shutterstock We live in a time when it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. AI makes headlines, news stories, and even images and videos appear real when they’re actually fabricated. It’s easy to be duped by AI content. So easy, in fact, that one charity thought a fake story circulating about some goodwill done for them was real.
The charity, Foster Love, “helps young adults navigating the foster care system find permanent housing,” according to Good Good Good contributor Meghan Cook. Foster Love heard a story about a pretty famous football player donating a house to their cause, and they celebrated the move on social media. The only problem? It never happened.
Foster Love believed that Travis Kelce donated a house to them, but he actually didn’t.
Earlier this year, a story broke that claimed Kansas City Chiefs tight end and fiancé of Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, donated a $3.3 million home to Foster Love. The charity thanked Kelce on their Facebook page on March 2, saying, “It’s inspiring to see Travis Kelce use his platform to make a real difference for vulnerable youth.”
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Unfortunately, it came to light that the news was just the result of AI. Kelce addressed it himself on the “New Heights” podcasts he hosts with his brother, Jason. “I gotta make a little statement in the ‘don’t believe everything you read, kids’ category or nice realm that you see online,” he said. “Some false claims were thrown out there that I was doing something in the community that I was not.”
Kelce may not have donated a house to charity, but another NFL star donated two with relatively little fanfare.
Jordan Jenkins, who previously played for the New York Jets, Houston Texans, and Las Vegas Raiders before his 2022 retirement, helped out a charity in his home state of Georgia in a big way. The nonprofit of his choice, The Plummer Home, “combats veteran homelessness and offers transitional housing to local vets,” Cook said.
He made a video that he shared across his social media platforms, talking about the great work the charity was doing. “Over the last 15 years, they’ve helped impact the lives of 708 veterans — and the number will continue to rise moving forward,” he said.
After making the video, Jenkins and Greg Jordan, the CEO and founder of The Plummer Home, met at a crawfish boil. Jordan gave Jenkins a tour of one of the homes the nonprofit was working on, which is how Jenkins discovered that the house next door was for sale. Another house on the street was also up for sale. Jenkins decided to purchase them both and donate them to The Plummer Home.
Of course, no one really heard the great news about Jenkins’ act of kindness. He doesn’t have the same kind of name recognition that Kelce does, and especially doesn’t have the kind of fame he’s enjoyed since his relationship with Swift began. It’s disappointing that a story about a really good thing someone did was pretty much buried for that reason.
Jenkins’ kindness was certainly needed.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Point-In-Time (PIT) Count from January 2024, 32,882 veterans were homeless in the United States. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reported that vets make up 5.3% of the population of homeless adults.
They added that this is such an issue for a number of reasons. Many veterans struggle with mental illnesses like PTSD, which make life difficult. The skills they learn and the jobs they do in the military are also not always easily transferable to traditional workplaces, so it’s challenging for them to support themselves.
It’s good to know that someone like Jenkins stepped up and helped a group of people that is very much in need. If only he received the recognition he deserved for doing so.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
