The timeline of Taylor Swift’s feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

The feud between Taylor Swift and Kanye West, along with Kim Kardashian, has spanned over a decade and brought about unexpected complexities. It all began at the MTV VMAs in September 2009 when Kanye famously interrupted Taylor’s acceptance speech, igniting a firestorm of controversy that has persisted ever since. Here’s the comprehensive timeline of their feud, starting with the latest update.

December 6, 2023

Taylor Swift opens up about the infamous phone call once again to TIME magazine, commenting that it “took my psyche to a place I had never been before. I moved to a strange land. I didn’t leave the rental house for a year.” “I was afraid to pick up the phone. I pushed most people in my life away because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I really crumbled.”

She further states, “I think that intense reaction moment will negatively impact me for the rest of my life.”

Check out their full feud timeline below…

September 13, 2009

It all began on this fateful day in New York City. Taylor Swift, then 19 years old, was present at the MTV Video Music Awards, accepting the Best Female Video award for her unrequited love anthem “You Belong with Me.” During her endearing acceptance speech, Kanye West jumped onto the stage and grabbed the mic, interrupting her with the now-infamous words: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”

If you Google “sad kitten,” you’ll get a fairly accurate depiction of Taylor’s face throughout this entire debacle, while MTV’s cameras cut to Beyoncé looking horrified in the audience. As Kanye shrugged and handed the mic back to Taylor, her moment was over.

All from “I will let you finish” to the potential Kimye digging into Fame and beyond

Taylor Swift’s feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian has been brewing for over a decade, bringing unexpected twists and turns. It all started at the MTV VMAs in September 2009 when Kanye famously interrupted Taylor’s acceptance speech, igniting a saga that has continued since. Here’s the full timeline of their feud, beginning with the latest update.

December 6, 2023

Taylor Swift opens up about the infamous phone call once again in TIME magazine, commenting that it “took my psyche down a road I hadn’t ever been down before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave the rental house for a year.” “I was afraid to pick up the phone. I pushed most people in my life away because I didn’t trust anybody anymore. I really had a very long, long breakdown.”

She further says, “I think that violent reaction will negatively affect me for the rest of my life.”

Check out their full feud timeline below…

September 13, 2009

It began. On this fateful day in New York City, 19-year-old Taylor Swift was present at the MTV Video Music Awards, accepting the Best Female Video award for her unrequited love anthem “You Belong with Me.” During her endearing acceptance speech, Kanye West jumped onto the stage and grabbed the mic, interrupting her with the now-infamous words: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”

If you Google “sad kitten,” you’ll get a fairly accurate depiction of Taylor’s face throughout this entire debacle, while MTV’s cameras cut to Beyoncé looking horrified in the audience. As Kanye shrugged and handed the mic back to Taylor, her moment was over.

September 15, 2009

Kanye makes a contrite appearance on The Jay Leno Show, admitting “It was rude, period. I’d like to be able to apologize to her in person.” It was a rare moment of contrition from a talented artist — or anyone — because I just wanna, you know, help people.

“My entire life, I’ve only wanted to do and give something that I felt was right, and instantly I knew that this was wrong in this context.”

Meanwhile, Taylor addressed the incident on The View: “My overall thought process was something like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I won, this is awesome, don’t trip and fall, I’m gonna have to thank the fans’ — this is so cool. ‘Oh, Kanye West is here. Cool haircut. What are you doing there?’ And then, ‘Ouch.’ And then, ‘I guess I’m not gonna get to thank the fans.'” She also confirmed that Kanye still hadn’t reached out to apologize.

After appearing on The View, Kanye called Taylor privately to apologize. She said: “He was very sincere in his apology and I accepted that apology.

September 4, 2010

Kanye publicly apologizes via the then-new and exciting social media platform Twitter: “I’m sorry, Taylor,” he writes. “We’re both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. She deserves more than an apology. Thank you [Twitter co-founders] Biz Stone and Evan Williams for creating a platform where we can communicate directly.” In a wave of heartfelt tweets, Kanye also reveals that he wrote a song for Taylor.

Beautiful Images

Kanye in 2010

September 12, 2010

… But before we get to hear Kanye’s song about Taylor, she released one about him. At the 2010 VMAs, Taylor marked the anniversary of Kanye’s failure with a barefoot performance of her new song ‘Innocent,’ featuring the lyrics “Who you are is not what you did / You’re still an innocent.” Though somewhat vague, most critics interpreted the lyrics as a subtle blend of forgiveness and revenge, with The New York Times calling the song “a highly sophisticated insult disguised as a freeway hug.”

November 2010

Kanye retracted his apology in a number of separate interviews, arguing that interrupting Taylor was “a moment of sincerity” and not arrogant, as she didn’t deserve the award. “Taylor has never stood up to defend me in any interview,” he complained, accusing Swift of exploiting the incident for publicity.

May 3, 2011

At least Taylor and Kanye publicly buried the hatchet. On the red carpet at the Met Gala, “they exchanged a very simple ‘low-five’ gesture,” but it was clear that tensions still lingered.

Beautiful Images

Taylor Promotes ‘Red’ in 2012

October 25, 2012

A profile by Rolling Stone revealed that Swift had a memento of the VMAs moment in her Nashville home: “Above the fireplace, adorned with a small heart, there’s even a picture capturing the moment Kanye stormed her VMA stage (with the caption, ‘Life is full of little interruptions,’ a phrase also found in her final album liner notes), right next to the award purportedly referenced under glass.”

June 11, 2013

Kanye formally retracted his apology, telling The New York Times that he only apologized in the first place because he caved to peer pressure. “I don’t have one regret,” he said about the VMAs incident.

Beautiful Images

Kanye and Taylor Backstage at the GRAMMY Awards 2015

February 2015

A new leaf was turned over in a serious manner. Taylor and Kanye were not only extremely friendly backstage at the 2015 Grammy Awards, but there were also rumors of a collaboration, following Taylor’s departure from country and transition to pop music with 1989.

Kanye told Ryan Seacrest: “She wants to get in the studio, and we’re definitely going to go in.” “I don’t have some elitist view of music, I don’t discriminate.” A few days after the Grammy Awards, the pair were spotted dining together at the famous The Spotted Pig restaurant in New York, further fueling those rumors.

August 2015

At the 2015 VMAs, six years after the minor interruption began it all, Taylor presented Kanye with the Video Vanguard Award, the most public confirmation to date of their newly formed alliance.

Beautiful Images

Kanye and Taylor at the VMAs 2015

September 2015

Forget about a music collaboration – Kanye and Taylor truly wanted to conquer the world together. Or at least America. After Kanye announced plans to run for President in 2020, Taylor volunteered to be his running mate.

“Awww Kanye sent me the most beautiful flowers!! #KanTay2020 #BFFs”

… This would still make 2020 even weirder than the 2016 election.

February 11th, 2016

Unfortunately, Kanye asserted that he had sought Taylor’s approval before releasing the song: “I called Taylor and had a one-hour conversation with her about the lyrics, and she found it amusing and gave her blessing.”

Taylor immediately refuted this in a statement, claiming that Kanye never ran the lyrics by her but instead asked her to promote the song: “Kanye didn’t ask for approval but requested that Taylor release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account. She declined and warned him about releasing a song with such a derogatory message towards strong women. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyrics, ‘I made that b**ch famous’.”

While Taylor herself remained silent, some members of her #squad stepped up to defend her, with her brother Austin posting a video in which he threw his Yeezys into the trash can.

On February 15, 2016, at another awards ceremony, another pivotal moment unfolded in the KanTay saga. After Taylor won Album of the Year for “1989,” she responded to Kanye with a perfect real-life tweet.

“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards twice, I want to say to all the young women out there—there will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments,” Swift said, without mentioning names.

“But if you just focus on the work and 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 who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

March 2016

Has the feud ended? Not even close, Chrissy Teigen says: “I’m going to tell you, it’s not over. It’s not going to be over. This is going to go on.”

June 16, 2016

…Indeed, it didn’t take long. Just as Chrissy predicted, this feud might outlast us all, especially now that it has evolved and turned into a triangle of enmity. Kim Kardashian West stepped into the controversy in an interview with GQ in June, reiterating Kanye’s claim that Taylor had given her blessing for those ‘Famous’ lyrics and then turned around to play the victim.

“She completely approved that,” Kim said. “She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn’t. I swear, my husband has faced so much shit for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved.”

And it didn’t stop there – Kim continued to assert that the referenced phone conversation, where Taylor approved the lyrics, was recorded on camera.

“And then they sent a letter from their lawyers like ‘You do not want to mess with the footage’ and asked us to destroy it.”

We need to see those receipts, Kim.

June 25, 2016

Kanye being Kanye, the music video for ‘Famous’ always adds fuel to the fire of their feud, but no one saw this coming.

The video starts with Kanye and Kim sleeping in bed, then pans out to reveal a naked Taylor asleep on the other side of Kanye. Also naked and asleep on this bizarrely surreal bed are Rihanna, Chris Brown, Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner, George W Bush, Anna Wintour, Ruby Rose, Ray J, and Bill Cosby. Taylor is notably placed next to Kanye, which only adds to the creepiness given the lyrics implying a potential sexual encounter.

While the celebrities were confirmed to be lifelike wax figures rather than real people, it’s still unclear how many of them agreed to the portrayal in the video.

July 18, 2016

The plot thickens dramatically. Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian, started teasing that her Twitter followers should also start following her on Snapchat, where she then dropped the biggest bombshell: a secret recording of a phone conversation between Taylor Swift and Kanye, seemingly agreeing to the use of her name, etc. in his song ‘Famous’. The words “respect” and “friends” were also used heavily in the conversation (mostly by Taylor).

Taylor asserted that she was never asked about being called “bitch” in the song, also stating that she never heard the lyrics “I made that bitch famous.” The audio released by Kim also didn’t include these lyrics.

Taylor then posted a note on Instagram saying she didn’t want to be involved in this “narrative” and hasn’t been since it began in 2009.

May 30, 2017

Kim Kardashian reignited the feud by stating that Kendall Jenner has never been on Team Taylor, so it’s no surprise how she handled the Famous fallout. But Kendall was indeed part of Taylor’s squad, wasn’t she?

July 18, 2017

It’s been a year since Kimmy K called out Taylor Swift for lying about knowing Kanye West’s “Famous” lyrics, and people are celebrating fervently on Twitter. Someone pass the poppers for this party!

August 21, 2017

Taylor started posting snake videos on her Instagram. This is particularly strange considering she had cleared out all her social media just a few days prior.

All of this seems to tie into Kim and Kanye fans flooding her Instagram and Twitter with snake emojis while all that ‘Famous’ drama was going down, doesn’t it? It sure looks like it.

August 23, 2017

Taylor announces that she’ll be releasing a new album in November. But haven’t we seen that font before? It sure brings to mind Kanye’s Saint Pablo tour merchandise…

August 25, 2017

Taylor drops the first single off her sixth album, “Reputation,” “Look What You Made Me Do.” Some of the lyrics definitely seem to speak to her feud with Kimye, such as:

“I don’t like your little games / Don’t like your tilted stage / The role you made me play / Of the fool / No, I don’t like you”

Does the tilted stage remind anyone of Kanye’s Saint Pablo Tour setup? Hmm.

“I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now!”

Remember when Kim called out Taylor on Twitter over the whole ‘Famous’ debacle and that RIP Taylor Swift mural from Melbourne was widely circulated? Entertainment.

Beautiful images.

On August 27, 2017,

Taylor debuted her new video “Look What You Made Me Do,” and fans speculated that there were some less subtle references to the Kanye/Kim feud, thanks to the snake rings.

On October 5, 2017,

Idris Elba commented on the ongoing beef, admitting he felt uncomfortable presenting an award with Taylor at the 2016 Met Gala.

Speaking to the New York Times, Idris said: “There’s a little bit of a awkward vibe because I and Taylor Swift had to present an award. We’re walking through the crowd, and obviously, there’s a little bit of tension between Taylor and Kanye. I didn’t know anything about it. But I was there! And I was like, ‘Oh, this is very uncomfortable.'”

On November 10, 2017,

Taylor released her highly anticipated album, Reputation, and fans had MANY theories about the song content, didn’t they?! Along with theories about songs about Taylor’s exes Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston, fans also believed not just one but TWO songs addressed Taylor’s feud with Kanye and Kim.

Firstly, in “I Did Something Bad,” the lyrics include, “They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one / They got their pitchforks and proof / Their receipts and reasons.”

This seems like a clear nod to Taylor Swift’s public feud with Kimye, doesn’t it? Specifically, viewing the “receipts” as an agreement with Kim’s recording of Taylor.

And in “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Taylor sings: “It was so nice being friends again / I was giving you a second chance / But then you stabbed my back while shaking my hand.”

Fans believe this song’s lyrics refer to Taylor’s friendship with Kim and Kanye because despite Kanye crashing the stage at the 2009 MTV VMAs to proclaim to the world that Beyoncé deserved the Best Female Video award over Taylor, the three of them remained friends, even being photographed together at red carpet events. And then, well, “Famous” happened.

March 29, 2018: Taylor’s BFF Lorde covers two of Kanye’s songs, which seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?

Lorde not only covered an a cappella version of “Love Lockdown” but also sang “Runaway” during a performance in Rosemont, Illinois.

To be fair, this isn’t the first time she’s played Kanye’s music on stage – in fact, back in 2014, she referred to him as her “idol.” But… Taylor might not be too pleased about this.

On March 7, 2019: Taylor reignited her feud with Kim and Kanye, labeling them as ‘bullies,’ who started a hate campaign online against her.

She stated in the April issue of Elle magazine: “In my experience, I’ve come to see that bullies want to be feared and taken seriously. A few years ago, someone started an online hate campaign by calling me a snake on the internet. The fact that so many people jumped on board with it led me to feeling lower than I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“Những hình ảnh đẹp”

The singer continued to detail how she reclaimed the snake comparison by introducing a giant inflatable cobra named Karyn – note the ‘K’ – on her tour.

She went on: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laughed at the fact that my 63-foot inflatable cobra named Karyn appeared onstage in front of 60,000 screaming fans.” “That’s the Stadium Tour equivalent of responding to a troll’s nasty comment on Instagram with ‘haha.'”

“It would be nice if we received an apology from the bullies themselves, but perhaps all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive and thrive in spite of it.”

August 13, 2019:

Nearly a decade after their feud began, Taylor Swift opened up to Vogue magazine about how being ‘cancelled’ by Kim Kardashian ‘affected her life.’

She remarked: “A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are cancel-worthy, is a very isolating experience.” “I don’t think there are that many people who can actually understand what it’s like to have millions of people hate you very loudly. When you say someone is cancelled, it’s not a TV show.

“It’s a human being. You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, ‘Kill yourself.'”

Taylor then shared how being ‘cancelled’ affected her daily life, inspiring her to create the album Reputation. She added: “I realized I needed to restructure my life because it felt completely out of control.” “I knew immediately I needed to make music about it because I knew it was the only way I could survive. It was the only way I could preserve my mental health and also tell the story of what it’s like to go through something so humiliating.””

November 5, 2019:

In the same week Kanye West released his album Jesus Is King, Kim Kardashian shared a video listening to Taylor Swift’s latest album, Lover.

As Kim was filming, she might not have had full control over the playlist or known that Taylor was playing. But once again, we’re talking about Kim Kardashian. Could this be evidence that the feud has truly ended?

March 22, 2020:

We thought the feud was over. We thought wrong. Somehow, an alleged unedited version of the conversation between Taylor Swift and Kanye West leaked – and it seemed to prove that Tay Tay had been telling the truth all along.

The video clip appeared to show Taylor consenting to “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex” in the lyrics but not hearing the part “I made that bitch famous” – something she has always denied agreeing to.

March 24, 2020:

Kim responded to the leaked video of the unedited version of the call between Kanye and Taylor, emphasizing:

“Taylor Swift has chosen to reignite an old exchange – at this point I feel very selfish about the suffering that millions of real victims are actually facing. I felt no need to comment a few days ago, and I’m ‘I’m really ashamed and embarrassed to do it right now, but because she continues to talk about it, I feel like I have no other choice but to respond because she’s actually lying.
Kim continues. “More clearly, the only problem I ever had about this issue is that Taylor lied through her representative, who claimed that “Kanye never called to ask permission…” They had a clear conversation so I’m showing you that. from “bitch” was used without her permission. At the time they spoke, the song hadn’t even been written yet, but as you can see in the video, she twisted the truth about their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she “rejected and warned him about releasing a song with such a misogynistic message.”.”

“Dishonesty is never about the word ‘bitch,’ it’s always about whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation. I have never edited the video (another lie) – I just posted a few clips on Snapchat to give my perspective and the full video recently leaked doesn’t change the story.”
“Additionally, Kanye as an artist has every right to document his musical journey and process, just as she has recently done through her documentary. Kanye has recorded the process of creating all of his albums for personal archiving. However, never released any albums for that purpose.” public and the call between the two of them will be kept private or thrown in the trash if she doesn’t tell the truth and forces me to defend him.”
“This will be the last time I speak on this issue because, frankly, no one cares. Sorry for boring you with this. I know you have much more serious and important issues to deal with.”

It continues.

December 16, 2021 – Kim discusses Taylor in a new interview

More than 18 months since the last update on the feud between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West with Taylor Swift, with Kim’s comments in March 2020 focusing on Kanye mentioning Taylor in his song ‘Famous.’

Fast forward to December 2021, Kim is discussing Taylor again – although this time things (fortunately) seem more positive.

Speaking candidly in a new in-depth interview on the Honest podcast with host Bari Weiss, Kim was faced with a question about the singer.

John Shearer // Getty Images

In a rapid-fire round of questions at the end of the podcast episode, Weiss asked Kim, “What’s your favorite Taylor Swift album?”

It turns out Kim had nothing but good things to say and replied: “I actually love a lot of her songs. They’re all extremely cute and catchy. I had to look up the name [of an album].”

There you have it. Kim seems to be a music fan of Taylor’s.

January 27, 2022:

Keen-eyed fans have put forth a hypothesis that Taylor is gearing up to release an album she was working on – and subsequently scrapped – around the time her feud with Kanye began.

This hypothesis comes from TikToker The Thrifty Swiftie, who explained in a recent video that Taylor typically releases an album every two years, but two years from 1989, right when a new release was slated, her feud with Kanye started, and no album emerged.

You’ll recall that’s around the time the whole Kimye vs. Taylor saga truly began. Well, according to The Thrifty Swiftie, if you look closely at this scene from Taylor’s ‘The Man’ music video, from ‘Karma’ appearing from 1989 to Reputation. Making fans think this could be the missing album from that time.

Additionally, there’s a “missing” billboard next to the graffiti artwork, so fans always believed “Karma” to be the missing album.

Well, now they think 2022 is the year we’ll hear it. According to the TikToker, there are expected to be over 20 new songs this year, all coming from the “from the vault” for 1989, which all makes sense when you think Taylor previously referenced Karma being locked in a vault. There are much deeper investigations into this issue in The Thrifty Swiftie’s other videos on the theory, and honestly, they’re all quite convincing.