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In the world of pop culture, very few controversies have created as much buzz as the one between Taylor Swift and Kanye West. The discourse has continued for the past fifteen years and is fresh even today. From 2009's VMA controversy to the leaked phone calls and the infamous Famous song, there has been plenty of drama between the two.
The most recent incident happened in February 2024, when Taylor Swift allegedly drove Kanye out of the stadium during the Super Bowl. In response, the rapper took to Twitter and wrote that he has been on Taylor Swift's side and has done more good for her career than harm.
A brief timeline of Taylor Swift's feud with Kanye West
Here is a brief timeline of the major positive and negative events in the fifteen-year-long saga between Kanye West and Taylor Swift that continues even today.
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September 13, 2009: Kanye infamously interrupts Taylor's VMA speech
The 19-year-old Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video award at the 2009 VMAs for You Belong with Me, beating Beyonce's Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).
Right when she was accepting the award, Kanye jumped onto the stage, grabbed Taylor's mic, and said:
"Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!"
The move attracted criticism from all over the industry, including Beyonce herself. Kanye later apologized in a blog post and on The Jay Leno Show. He also reportedly called Taylor and apologized to her over the phone.
September 2009 - September 2010: Kanye addresses the VMA incident and apologizes to Taylor
Kanye West appeared on Ellen on September 14, 2009, and apologized to Taylor Swift for the VMA incident:
"I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong and it was a spectacle," West said. "It's actually someone's emotions that I stepped on. It was very, it was rude, period. I'd like to be able to apologize to her in person."
A day later, Taylor told ABC Radio that Kanye had called her for a sincere apology, which she had accepted.
"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," the Love Story singer added.
Almost a year after Taylor's Monologue Song, Kanye went on an apology rant on Twitter, claiming that he had written a song for Taylor and would record it himself if Taylor didn't want it. The tweets ended with 'I'm sorry, Taylor.'
August 30, 2015: "I have been a fan of his for as long as I can remember," Taylor Swift praises Kanye while presenting him with an award
The feud between Taylor and Kanye seemed to have settled for good when Taylor presented Kanye West with the Video Vanguard Award in 2015. In her speech, she talked about how Taylor and her brother bought his College Dropout album from iTunes as kids and revealed that she'd been a fan of the rapper since her childhood days.
"Something that you may not know is that Kanye West's album College Dropout was the very first album my brother and I bought on iTunes when I was 12 years old. I have been a fan of his for as long as I can remember because Kanye defines what it means to be a creative force in music, fashion and, well, life," Taylor said.
She finished her speech by stating that Kanye West had one of the greatest careers ever.
"So I guess I have to say to all the other winners tonight: I'm really happy for you, and I'mma let you finish, but Kanye West has had one of the greatest careers of all time!" Taylor concluded.
August 2015: Kanye West sends Taylor Swift flowers after the MTV Video Music Awards
Kanye West sent Taylor Swift a big bouquet of flowers shortly after their interaction at the VMAs in 2015. Taylor posted the photo of the flowers on her Instagram with the caption:
"Awwww Kanye sent me the coolest flowers!! #KanTay2020 #BFFs"
February 2016: Kanye West releases Famous insulting Taylor Swift
In February 2016, Kanye West released Famous, which sparked the second chapter of their controversy. In one part of the song, Kanye said:
"I feel like me and Taylor might still have s*x/Why? I made that [expletive] famous/Goddamn, I made that [expletive] famous."
Kanye later claimed that he had obtained Taylor Swift's permission before releasing the lyrics about her. However, Taylor's PR team vehemently refuted this.
“Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask 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, ‘I made that [expletive] famous,” stated Taylor's PR team.
June 2019: Taylor describes Kanye West's Famous music video as "revenge p*rn"
Taylor Swift addressed her feelings about the Famous music video in a June 2019 Tumblr post. The 14-time Grammy winner called the video "revenge p*rn" and alleged that Kim Kardashian recorded the phone call without permission.
"All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years," Taylor wrote. "Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it."
At the time, Swift was going through a tumultuous period amid the Scooter Braun and Big Machine Records fiasco. In a Tumblr post, she blamed Kanye West for organizing the debacle with Scooter.
December 2023: Taylor calls her feud with Kanye as 'career death'
Taylor gave her first sit-down interview in a long time after being named TIME Person of the Year in 2023. The singer/songwriter spoke at length about her infamous fiasco and said, ' my career was taken away from me.'
"That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard."
February 15, 2024: Kanye writes about Taylor again
During the Super Bowl, rumors surfaced that Taylor Swift drove Kanye West out of the stadium. The latter denied the claims and wrote in a since-deleted tweet:
"To all Taylor Swift fans, I’m not your enemy. Uuum I’m not your friend either though LOL"
He further claimed he's been more helpful to Taylor's career than harmful. The rapper reminded fans that he was on Taylor Swift's side when Scooter Braun bought her masters behind her back.
The Taylor-Kanye controversy is far from over, but things seemed to be on pause at the time of writing.
