It’s Taylor Swift vs Kanye West, part 242, with a dash of Kim Kardashian. West’s famous wife stirred the pot of beef between Taylor Swift and Kanye West on Sunday, when on Snapchat, she posted a video of a phone call between the rapper and pop superstar about his song Famous, in which he rapped, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why? I made that bitch famous.”
Upon its release in February, West was condemned by many for the line. He insisted that Swift had given her blessing to the lyric, but she denied ever hearing the lyric.
On Twitter on Sunday, Kardashian teased: “Do u guys follow me on snap chat? U really should ;-)” Then, she unleashed a series of Snapchat videos that threatened to break the internet. On them, a smiling West tells Swift that he’s working on a song and wants to use the lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.”
In response, Swift is heard saying she worries about overexposure, but West says the lyric would be good exposure. In the end, she appears to give her blessing. “It’s like a compliment,” she says. “I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.” “I just had a responsibility to you as a friend. Thanks for being so cool about it,” he responds.
Many on social media took glee in the leaked audio recordings on Sunday, and suggested that it proved Swift had lied. But in an Instagram post, Swift said that the audio actually proved that she had never approved the use of the world “bitch.”
Swift also is heard saying that it’s a tongue-in-cheek line anyway, and that she would let people know she knew about it in advance She also says, “I’m always going to respect you.” But when the song came out, the entire line was: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, Why? I made that bitch famous.”
In a statement released at the time, Swift’s representative said:
Kanye did not call for approval, but asked Taylor to release his single Famous on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric.
Kanye responded with a series of tweets by declaring the statement invalid and said that he had, in fact, told Taylor Swift about the lyrics prior to the song’s release.
Old Nemesis
This is the latest chapter in a long feud between the pair that now dates back seven years, when West took the stage as a then 19-year-old Swift beat Beyonce for an MTV Video Music Award.
West came on stage as Swift was accepting her award and said:
Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!
The infamous moment cast West as a villain, and damaged his image; Swift, already a multi-platinum star, went on to more fame.
The feud continued for years, but the pair made up last year, with West, Kardashian and Swift publicly trading hugs and smiles in public.
Cut to earlier this year, when Famous was released, the feud was back on, and Swift even took a dig at West when she accepted her Grammy for album of the year for 1989.
There will be people along the way that will try to undercut your success, or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. But if you just focus on the work, and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you.Taylor Swift
In her Instagram post on Sunday, Swift seemed as weary of the public battle as many in the public have become: “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.”
(With inputs from AP.)
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