Kissgate

From kiss +‎ -gate.

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Kissgate

1. (This is a hot sense, kept provisionally) (informal, sports) The 2023 controversy surrounding several incidents of alleged indecent behaviour (including an uninvited kiss) toward female footballers by Spanish football official Luis Rubiales.
   • 2023 August 26, Emillia Hawkins, “Disgraced Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales BANNED by Fifa after kissgate row with Jenni Hermoso”, in The Sun‎^[1]:

     SHAMED football chief Luis Rubiales has been BANNED by Fifa over his kissgate scandal. The Spanish FA president kissed Spain World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso on the lips immediately after their final win over England.

   • 2023 September 27, James Robinson, “Jorge Vilda: Former Spain manager to be investigated as part of Luis Rubiales ‘kissgate’ probe”, in Sky News‎^[2]:

     Spain's Women's World Cup winning ex-manager Jorge Vilda is to be investigated as part of the Luis Rubiales “kissgate” probe.

   • 2024 March 28, “Prosecutors pursue ex-FA chief Luis Rubiales with prison term and compensation in ‘Kissgate’ case”, in Mundo Deportivo‎^[3], archived from the original on 10 April 2024:

     Spanish prosecutors have formally declared their intent to pursue a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Luis Rubiales, the former chief of the country's Soccer Association (FA), in connection to the controversial ‘Kissgate’ incident.

2. (fandom slang) An incident in 2014 in which a fan surreptitiously photographed Taylor Swift and her friend Karlie Kloss seemingly kissing at a concert.
   • 2019, Brilynn Janckila, "Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be Not Like Other Girls: A Symbolic Convergence Theory Examination of 'Other Girls'", thesis submitted to St. Cloud University, page 59-60:

     Kissgate was proof that Swift is in a same-sex relationship and the men she dates serve as "beards" to uphold her straight image.

   • 2022 November 10, Charlotte Jones, “'Midnights' Analysis”, in Indiana Daily Student‎^[4], page 6:

     "Question...?" could be about Kissgate, a fandom term for the 1975 concert Swift and Karli^[sic] Kloss attended together, caught potentially kissing.

   • 2025, Paula Clare Harper, “15Hearing #Gaylor: Queer Musical (Conspiracy) Theorizing in the Internet Age”, in Christa Bentley, Kate Galloway, Paula Harper, editors, Taylor Swift: The Star, The Songs, The Fans‎^[5], unnumbered page:

     This so-called #kissgate video kicked the investigative work of Kaylors into high gear; they began to scour social media ever more intently for clues.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Kissgate.