If you were to log onto the Internet yesterday, you would see that both Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian were trending. No, it’s not because they’ve both made sizable donations to those who need it at this terrible time, it’s because they’ve reignited some old beef. Yep. That’s it. That’s why.
We spoke about Taylor Swift on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
For some essential context, Kanye West and Taylor Swift have been enemies ever since 2009, but the beef in question is rooted in a phone call that happened in 2016.
In that year, Kanye West dropped a single called “Famous” which featured the lyric, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why? I made that b**ch famous.” After Taylor Swift spoke out about being blind-sighted by this lyric, Kim Kardashian released footage of Kanye calling Taylor to ask her permission to use her name in the song. However, there was no mention of calling her “that b**ch” in the phone call, which Taylor Swift openly took issue with after.
In 2017, social media notably turned against Taylor Swift, with much of the internet calling her a snake (a motif that would soon pop up on much of her following album).
Fast-forward to this week, the full video of the phone call has made its way onto the internet and, what do you know, the line does not appear in the 20-minute, unedited recording. Instead, Kanye tells Taylor of the lines “I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex” or “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex”, to which she responds with “I thought it was going to be like, ‘That stupid, dumb bitch’, but it’s not.” Except, it was. You can watch the full video here:
From this video came Taylor and Kim Kardashian expressing their opinions, vicariously through other people. Kim Kardashian liked a Tweet that said, “The video showed nothing new. We all knew that. I’m so confused right now.” Also, Taylor Swift took to Tumblr to like a bunch of posts on Tumblr, including one that said, “WHO WAS TELLING THE TRUTH THE ENTIRE TIME???”
Days later, they’ve both addressed the issue, this time personally.
In an Instagram story, Taylor Swift wrote: “Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that was 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”, linking to WHO and Feeding America, and calling on followers to donate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim Kardashian replied to Taylor in a string of Tweets, saying “Taylor Swift has chosen to reignite an old exchange – that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now. You can go through the entire thread here:
Also, Taylor Swift’s good friend Todrick Hall has inserted himself into the narrative, for some reason.
At the end of the day, this feud is old and tired, and it definitely did not need to be brought up at a time like this. No, Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian did not need to “like” posts against one another. No, neither of them needed to make a “statement” on the issue. In the words of the self-aware, Kim Kardashian, “nobody cares.”
Nobody really cared at the time and definitely, nobody cares now. There is literally so much more that we need to be worried about, and it’s time that these two celebrities use their platforms for good instead of reigniting old feuds for personal gain. Props must be given to Taylor Swift for giving her followers a swipe-up link to donate, but she didn’t need to use this beef to do so.
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