Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s rivalry has been one of many largest in music historical past. From the notorious 2009 VMAs incident to their short-lived friendship to Kanye’s shoutout on “Well-known” and Taylor’s response on popularity, it’s definitely been one for the historical past books. Taylor just lately mirrored on the feud and Kanye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian leaking the 2016 cellphone name about “Well-known” in her Time “Individual of the Yr” interview.
As one of many longest-running rivalries in music, tons of followers revisit the drama when one among them do one thing to stir the pot. With Taylor reflecting on the cellphone name and her profession as an entire, look again on your entire timeline of their feud right here.
The 2009 MTV VMAs
The difficulty began between Taylor and Kanye in 2009, years earlier than Kim was within the image. Nobody will ever neglect the notorious second when Kanye stormed the stage on the 2009 Video Music Awards and interrupted Taylor whereas she was accepting the award for Feminine Video of the Yr. He ran on-stage and introduced that Beyoncé had “among the finest movies of all time.” In subsequent interviews, Taylor did reveal that Kanye had known as her to apologize after the actual fact.
Taylor was simply 19 years outdated on the time, and the scenario publicly humiliated her. When Bey was given the Video of the Yr award, she welcomed Taylor again to the stage to have her second. Within the years for the reason that notorious incident, Taylor has referred to it on a number of events, together with throughout a efficiency on her “Eras Tour” in August 2023.
Taylor Releases “Harmless,” and Kanye Drops “Runaway”
After the incident, the Communicate Now singer responded by penning the tune “Harmless” on her 2010 album and performing it at the exact same award present one 12 months after the incident. The tune was not indignant, and though Taylor and Kanye have been removed from mates, it regarded like they have been placing the drama behind them.
On the 2010 award present, Kanye additionally made his return with the tune “Runaway” from his magnum opus album My Stunning Darkish Twisted Fantasy. The efficiency not solely marked the start of the promo for the album, however the tune appeared a minimum of partially impressed by the backlash he obtained for the incident.
Taylor & Kanye Dangle Out on the Grammys
In 2015, they proved that every one was cool between them by hanging out on the 2015 Grammy Awards. JAY-Z helped facilitate the reconciliation, as he was mates with each Kanye AND Taylor. In August of that 12 months, Taylor spoke concerning the two of them making up in a Vainness Honest interview. “I really feel like I wasn’t able to be mates with him till I felt like he had some form of respect for me, and he wasn’t able to be mates with me till he had some form of respect for me,” she stated. “Hey, I like him as an individual. And that’s a very good, good first step, a pleasant place for us to be.”
Taylor Introduces Kanye on the VMAs
On the 2015 VMA Awards that August, Taylor and Kanye’s relationship got here full circle, as she offered him with the Video Vanguard Award on the present. She then stood beside Kim within the viewers and watched him communicate and carry out. Sadly, the solace was short-lived.
Kanye Releases “Well-known,” & Taylor Claps Again
In 2016, Kanye launched his tune “Well-known,” which included the lyric, “I really feel like me and Taylor would possibly nonetheless have intercourse, why? I made that b**** well-known.” He claimed that he known as Taylor to get her approval for the lyric earlier than releasing the tune, however her publicist launched a press release that informed a special story. She admitted that Kanye did give Taylor a name, however stated Taylor by no means accredited the lyric that was within the tune that the rapper launched.
When Taylor gained the 2016 Grammy for Album of the Yr, she once more made a dig at Kanye and the tune. “I need to say to all of the younger girls on the market, there are going to be folks alongside the way in which who will attempt to undercut your success or take credit score on your accomplishments or your fame,” she stated, through Folks. “f you simply give attention to the work, and also you don’t let these folks sidetrack you, sometime if you get the place you’re going, you’ll go searching and you’ll know that it was you and the individuals who love you who put you there, and that would be the biggest feeling on this planet.”
Kim Kardashian Calls Out Taylor & Releases Telephone Name Footage
That June, Kim did an interview with GQ, and branded Taylor a liar. Then, in July, she known as Taylor a ‘snake’ on X (previously Twitter), and launched illegally-recorded footage of Kanye and Taylor’s dialog about “Well-known” on Snapchat.
Taylor launched a scathing assertion in response by a spokesperson. “Taylor doesn’t maintain something in opposition to Kim Kardashian as she acknowledges the stress Kim have to be below and that she is just repeating what she has been informed by Kanye West. Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the truth that a lot of what Kim is saying is wrong. Kanye West and Taylor solely spoke as soon as on the cellphone whereas she was on trip together with her household in January of 2016 and so they have by no means spoken since. Taylor has by no means denied that dialog befell. It was on that cellphone name that Kanye West additionally requested her to launch the tune on her Twitter account, which she declined to do,” they stated.
Taylor Drops ‘popularity’
After the Midnights songwriter launched her assertion, she was shunned on social media, and she or he retreated from the general public eye. She didn’t deal with the scenario once more till the discharge of her 2017 tune, “Look What You Made Me Do.” She subsequently launched the album popularity, which had just a few songs that appeared to take digs at Ye, together with “I Did One thing Unhealthy” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Good Issues.”
Taylor Opens Up About Kanye to ‘Rolling Stone’
Throughout a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone, Taylor gave a extra detailed account of why she by no means totally trusted Kanye, even after they have been mates. She shared particular situations the place she felt manipulated by the rapper, together with earlier than presenting him with the Vanguard Award. “I noticed he’s so two-faced. That he desires to be good to me behind the scenes, however then he desires to look cool, rise up in entrance of everybody and speak s**t. And I used to be so upset. He needed me to come back speak to him after the occasion in his dressing room. I wouldn’t go,” she stated.
The Complete Telephone Name Is Launched
The entire thing was seemingly put to mattress — till the FULL model of the “Well-known” cellphone name was leaked in 2020. Taylor launched a press release exhibiting that she felt vindicated by the discharge. “As an alternative of answering those that are asking how I really feel concerning the video footage that leaked, proving that I used to be telling the reality the entire time about *that decision* (you realize, the one which was illegally recorded, that someone edited and manipulated in an effort to body me and put me, my household, and followers by hell for 4 years),” she wrote.
After Taylor’s assertion, Kim clapped again at her, referring to the many individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and she or he additionally claimed that she “by no means edited” the footage. “@taylorswift13 has chosen to reignite an outdated alternate – that at this cut-off date feels very self-serving given the struggling tens of millions of actual victims are dealing with proper now,” she wrote on X. “On the time after they spoke the tune had not been totally written but, however as everybody can see within the video, she manipulated the reality of their precise dialog in her assertion when her crew stated she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a tune with such a robust misogynistic message.”
Kanye Guarantees to Get Taylor’s Masters Again
Since “Well-known,” Taylor and Kanye have by no means made up, however amid her battle to regain possession of her grasp recordings from Scooter Braun, the rapper did submit that he was “GOING TO PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT TAYLOR SWIFT GETS HER MASTERS BACK” in a submit on X in September 2020. He stood by the assertion in an interview with Billboard just a few days later. “All artists have to be free and personal their rights. Taylor Swift deserves that, similar to everybody else,” he stated.
Kim Listens to Taylor Years After Feud
In 2021, Kim filed for divorce from Kanye. Taylor didn’t publicly touch upon their cut up, however afterwards, the SKIMs founder did reveal some stunning musical preferences. Kim admitted that she is a fan of Taylor’s music in an interview with political commentator Bari Weiss. “They’re all tremendous cute and catchy,” she stated.
Two years later, Kim additional confirmed that she’s a fan by dancing alongside together with her daughter North West in January 2023. In March, she additionally posted a video of herself figuring out to the Lover minimize “You Must Calm Down.”
Taylor Seems Again on the Notorious Telephone Name in ‘Time’ Interview.
Over seven years after the “Well-known” cellphone name was launched, Taylor mirrored on the scenario extra in her Time interview, when she was named “Individual of the Yr.” She spoke about how down she felt after everybody known as her out following Kim’s leak. “That took me down psychologically to a spot I’ve by no means been earlier than,” she stated. “I used to be afraid to get on cellphone calls. I pushed away most individuals in my life as a result of I didn’t belief anybody anymore. I went down actually, actually laborious.”
Taylor Releases ‘thanK you aIMee’ & Extra From ‘TTPD’
Im April 2024, Taylor launched her double album, The Tortured Poets Division, and Swifties have been satisfied that it included a number of jabs at Kim and Kanye. Within the monitor, “thanK you aIMee,” the lyrics level to an individual that bullied Taylor. Not solely that, however the title even spells out Kim’s title within the three capitalized letters.
