A parody account spread a fake photo claiming the NFL star and reality TV star were together
A photo claiming to show former New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs and reality television star Taylor Frankie Paul together in the city of Provo, Utah, has gone massively viral on social media, racking up 1.4 million views on X. But despite the enormous attention the post generated, the image is fabricated and the account responsible for spreading it is a self-described parody page with no credible connection to either public figure.
Why the photo is not what it appears to be
The post originated from an account called Football Crave on X, which identifies itself in its own bio as a parody account dedicated to football culture. The account has no journalistic credibility and exists to entertain rather than inform, yet millions of users encountered the image without reading past the caption to check where it actually came from.
The photo itself was deliberately manipulated. The original image is a legitimate photograph of Diggs taken in 2023 during a photoshoot in Paris. The altered version repositioned him to face the camera directly and made cosmetic changes to his shoes, placing his recognizable face in a manufactured setting designed to suggest the two celebrities had been photographed together somewhere neither has any public connection to. No credible news outlet has produced any evidence that Diggs and Paul have met in person, let alone that they are in a romantic relationship. Posts suggesting they were an item began circulating in late March but have never been supported by verified sources or firsthand accounts from anyone close to either of them.
Who Stefon Diggs is and his recent personal life
Diggs spent the later part of his playing career with the New England Patriots before becoming a free agent. He became a prominent fixture in entertainment news after being linked to rapper Cardi B toward the end of 2024, a high-profile pairing that drew considerable public attention. Their relationship went public in May 2025, and the couple welcomed a son together in November 2025. After more than a year together, things came to an end following the 2026 Super Bowl, leaving Diggs single and, as it turns out, a prime target for exactly the kind of speculation the Football Crave post represents.
Who Taylor Frankie Paul is and why her name has been in the news
Paul is one of the most recognizable personalities on “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” a reality show that follows a group of Mormon wives and mothers who built large online followings through a TikTok community known as Mom Tok. Paul is one of the founders of that network, and the show has grown popular enough that its cast members have begun appearing on other major productions, with co-stars landing spots on “Dancing With the Stars” last fall.
Paul’s own profile reached new heights when she was chosen to star in the spring edition of “The Bachelorette,” a selection that briefly made her one of the most discussed names in reality television. That moment collapsed quickly when, just three days before the season was set to premiere, a 2023 video resurfaced on social media showing Paul in a domestic dispute with her then-boyfriend Dakota. The footage showed Paul throwing a chair near her child. ABC responded by pulling the entire season from its schedule before a single episode could air, bringing her Bachelorette experience to an abrupt and very public end.
Given the recent upheaval in both of their personal lives, the fabricated post was timed to exploit a moment when fans and tabloid followers were already curious about what might come next for each of them. It is a reminder that in an era of readily available photo editing tools and parody accounts designed to generate engagement through misleading content, checking the source of a viral post before accepting it as fact has never been more essential.
Source: The Sporting News, Teddy Ricketson, April 8, 2026