Hollywood’s landscape is shifting, and in 2026 the internet says the throne has a single, undisputed queen in Teyana Taylor. While folks were busy tracking the rise of America’s newest heartthrob Aaron Pierre and former NBA standout Iman Shumpert’s pivot to the viral world of Kountry Wayne skits, Taylor was quietly orchestrating a career ascension of historic proportions while her exes— according to skeptics— were effortless eclipsed.
Suggested Reading
And TikTok conspiracy theorists say they know exactly why.
Spiritual TikTok calls it “destiny swapping;” the act of hijacking a person’s spiritual “blessings,” luck or life path while leaving the victim stuck with the swapper’s original path of struggle or misfortune. TikToker @richelle broke down the theory, saying, “Destiny swapping comes in all forms.”
In front of a smiling photo of Taylor and Pierre, who reportedly broke up after dating less than a year, she explained, “If you have an amazing career going for you and somebody might be going through a terrible breakup […] You are susceptible to destiny swapping.”
She added how, “[Pierre] was literally everywhere. You could not go anywhere without seeing people recreate this video of Aaron “Thee” Pierre,” referring to that viral clip of him dancing down “The Jennifer Hudson Show” spirit tunnel that had the internet swooning and drooling.
“Now our girl was going through some rough times; she was getting a divorce. But after we seen them together, this is when the shift began,” Richelle speculated alongside of a snapshot of Taylor and Pierre sitting front row at the 2025 BET Awards in June. “Holding onto his arm like that, not letting go, siphoning the energy from this man!”
She gave the Harlem native her flowers and called her talented, but said destiny swapping is “part of the ritual” and “the transference of energy.” While noting how Taylor conveniently appeared on the “TODAY” show to promote her film “One Battle After Another” despite “all the other movies she played in the past,” the TikToker wondered, “Where’s Aaron Pierre’s roles?” besides “Mufasa” and “that movie on Netflix that flopped.”
Some folks in the comments agreed, including one who wrote how Pierre “was definitely on his way prior to this.” Others didn’t, writing that Taylor is “a nepo baby…She was always going to be successful.”
The Joe Budden Podcast even touched on their breakup, with co-host Ish noting how busy Taylor has been but heard “crickets” when asked what Pierre has been up to. (Pierre will appear in “Star Wars: Starfighter” alongside Ryan Gosling and Amy Adams in May 2027, by the way.)
But Pierre is just her most recent former flame.
Taylor and her ex-husband of seven years, Iman Shumpert, was a fairytale story of when hip-hop met basketball. Shumpert won the NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, but when she filed for divorce in 2023, Taylor alleged in court filings that Shumpert was jealous her career eclipsed his after he retired in 2021.
While he made history as the first NBA player to win “Dancing with the Stars,” he’s been a consistent face in Kountry Wayne comedy skits— a far cry from champion rings according to some.
TikToker @itsdwightthomas said in a post, “I feel like every time the man leave their wife and their beautiful families to go back to the streets, they be down bad.”
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.