Inside Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s brutal feud from VMAs ambush to swipes in lyrics

Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s feud has been at the forefront of pop culture for years, but what really went down between the two musicians?

One of the most prolific feuds in American pop culture has got to be the one between Taylor Swift and Kanye West.

Even if you’re not fully aware of the backstory behind this duo’s falling out, the chances are, you know they’re enemies

The pair’s feud began back in 2009 when Kanye headed up on-stage during Taylor’s acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.

He did apologise for the above, but a few years down the line things went awry again, with the pair now having had one of the longest feuds to have graced our social media timelines.

VMA ambush and apology

Kanye famously interrupted Taylor at the VMAs in 2009 ( 
Speaking into the mic, Kanye said: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”

Taylor then broke her silence to reporters later on, with her saying: “I was standing on stage and I was really excited because I’d just won the award and then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage … And then I wasn’t excited anymore after that.”

Two days later on September 15, Taylor revealed that Kanye apologised after rudely interrupting her.

Speaking on ABC Radio, she said: “Kanye did call me and he was very sincere in his apology, and I accepted that apology.

“The support I got from other artists and from the fans, and so many people sticking up for me, that’s what got me to the place where I could accept that apology. And I’m just very thankful that everyone showed me so much love.”

Grammy reunion and collab rumours

Kanye and Taylor were then seen together at the Grammys two years later ( 

Speaking to Ryan Seacrest at the time, Kanye teased: “She wants to get in the studio, and we’re definitely going to go in.

“Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fanbase, I’m down to get in the studio and work. I don’t discriminate.”

And then Taylor spoke out a few months later when she told Vanity Fair: “I feel like I wasn’t ready to be friends with him until I felt like he had some sort of respect for me, and he wasn’t ready to be friends with me until he had some sort of respect for me.

“We haven’t planned [any collaboration] … But hey, I like him as a person. And that’s a really good, nice first step, a nice place for us to be.”

Brief reconciliation

Taylor then presented Kanye with an award in the summer of 2015 ( 

Kanye West has been branded a ‘dinosaur’ from a now ex-friend

On August 30, 205, Taylor presented Kanye with MTV’s Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.
He then sent her flowers and Taylor posted about them on Instagram, writing: “Awwww Kanye sent me the coolest flowers!! #KanTay2020 #BFFs”.

At this point, we thought the feud was well and truly over. But oh boy were we all wrong.

‘Famous’ song and NSFW video

Kanye featured a naked wax figure of Taylor Swift in his music video for Famous ( 
Image:
PA)
A few months down the line in February 2016, Kanye dropped his track Famous from his album The Life of Pablo.

Seemingly containing a dig about Taylor, the lyrics went: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b*tch famous”.

With a whole lot of backlash, Kanye then took to Twitter to boast about how he had obtained permission from Taylor in regard to name-dropping her.

Kanye claimed that he got permission after the pair were on the phone for around one hour.

But shortly after, during Taylor’s acceptance speech at the Grammsy for for album of the year she addressed the lyric.

“As the first woman to win album of the year at the Grammys twice. I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”

The pair have had a turbulent feud that has been well-documented online over the years ( 
Image:
GETTY)
On June 24, 2016, Kanye then released the accompanying music video to his hit Famous.

The NSFW music video was surrounded in controversy after the video featured a naked wax figure of Taylor.

July 17, 2016 then saw Kanye’s then-wife Kim Kardashian share the phone call between Taylor and the rapper.

“It’s like a compliment,” Taylor can be heard saying after Kanye seemingly reads her the lyrics that say: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.”

Kanye then said that he wants things to make Taylor feel good and then he thanked her “for being like, so cool about it” after she told him she appreciates the “heads up” on the lyrics.

But then it was revealed by Taylor’s rep that “Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyrics, ‘I made that b*tch famous’.”

Taylor later branded the music video and song as “revenge porn”.

Taylor’s response

“It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b*tch’ in front of the entire world.”

She continued: “Of course I wanted to like the song. I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song. I wanted us to have a friendly relationship. He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.”

Taylor then concluded: “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.”

She captioned the post: “That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet.”

Reputation and feud Easter eggs

Taylor references the Kanye feud in Look What You Made Me Do ( 
Image:
Taylor Swift/Youtube)
In August 2017, Taylor announced her album Reputation after she wiped her social media platforms of literally everything.

The Look What You Made Me Do music video, which was the first song to be released from the album featured a slew of Easter eggs alluding to her feud with Kanye and Kim.

And then This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is a song from the album that appeared to touch upon the feud.

“There I was giving you a second chance / If only you weren’t so shady / But you stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand,” Taylor sings in the song.

She continues: “And therein lies the issue / Friends don’t try to trick you / Get you on phone and mind-twist you.”

Truth comes out and they all move on

In March 2020 the feud came to a head and the truth was unveiled ( 
Image:
Getty Images for TAS Rights Mana)
And in March 2020, the full phone call between Taylor and Kanye leaked online, proving that Taylor was in fact in the right.

The leaked footage proved that Kanye did phone Taylor, but not to ask for approval for lyrics, but instead to ask if she would share his song on Twitter upon its release.

But Taylor focused on the coronavirus pandemic when she broke her silence on the matter.

Taking to Instagram she said: “Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call*.

“(You know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family and fans through hell for 4 years)…SWIPE UP to see what really matters.”

Clapping back mere days later, Kim took to Twitter and said: “To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’

“They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b*tch’ was used without her permission.”

Karma

Fans think Karma could hint at the long-running feud
When Taylor’s album Midnights was released last fall, fans were quick to speculate over the fact that track 11, which is titled Karma, might be about Kanye.

“October 6, 2016, the original demo of Kanye’s song Famous leaked with the full lyrics about Taylor. October 6, 2022, Taylor announces Karma. Coincidence? I think not,” penned one fan when Karma was announced.

“Karma is definitely about Kanye because it’s definitely not a coincidence that it’s Track 11,” added another person penned.

While a third added: “Both Innocent and Karma are Track 11…definitely not a coincidence. Taylor’s a mastermind,” which referred to Innocent – a song from Speak Now – which appeared to reference her feud with the rapper.

Some of the lyrics of the song go: “You’re talking sh*t for the hell of it / Addicted to betrayal, but you’re relevant / You’re terrified to look down / ‘Cause if you dare, you’ll see the glare / Of everyone you burned just to get there / It’s coming back around.”

Other lyrics in the song also go: “And I keep my side of the street clean / You wouldn’t know what I mean.”