“Genius!” - Perez Hilton wonders if Taylor Swift’s new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ could be her “ultimate revenge” on Kanye West

Podcaster and media personality Perez Hilton weighed in on Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated album The Life of a Showgirl, calling it the “ultimate revenge” on Kanye West. In his website article - linked to his X post uploaded on August 13, 2025 - Hilton praised Swift’s plan to drop the album.

"Genius! … One thing we know about Taylor Swift, nothing is accidental! She is also the best at revenge! We wouldn’t be surprised if this was her plan all along!" he wrote.

Perez Hilton

@PerezHilton

Taylor Swift Getting Her Ultimate Revenge On Kanye West With New Album? See Why Swifties Think So! 🔗

In his article, Hilton discussed the buzz surrounding Swift’s upcoming record and the wave of online theories from her devoted fanbase.

One fan speculation was that the album was directly tied to her feud with Kanye West. This was reportedly based on the fact that when someone typed “the life of” into Spotify, Kanye West’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo appeared first. That album featured the track Famous, known for its lyrics:

"I feel like me and Taylor might still have s*x / Why? I made that b*tch famous.”

After this, Taylor Swift retreated from the public eye for a year. Her name was later cleared when the full, unedited conversation between the singer and Ye surfaced. Commenting on this, Perez Hilton wrote:

"And while Taylor could put all this behind her by now, she hasn’t! Instead, it appears she is getting sweet, sweet revenge! How so?"

Hilton also highlighted another fan theory. According to him, fans believed Swift had deliberately named her new album The Life of a Showgirl so that it would replace The Life of Pablo in search results, hitting West “where it hurts most” - “his wallet and his ego.”

Hilton further claimed that Swift’s new album visuals seemed to heavily feature the color orange, same as The Life of Pablo’s cover art.

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What else do we know about Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s long-standing feud?

Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian West attend The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2015. (Image via Getty)

Taylor Swift and Kanye West have had a turbulent history. It all began when the rapper interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV VMAs. She had won Best Female Video forYou Belong With Me. As reported by People magazine, she began her speech by expressing how surreal the moment felt.

Before Taylor Swift could finish her speech, Kanye West interrupted, saying:

"Yo Taylor. I'm really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time."

The two eventually appeared to make amends. But tensions flared again in February 2016 with the release of Kanye West's song Famous. Swift’s camp said the rapper never sought approval for the track.

"Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account…Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that b*ich famous,’" her representative told E! News at the time.

Taylor Swift at the 66th GRAMMY Awards - Red Carpet (Image via Getty)

The situation escalated when Kim Kardashian, then married to West, released clips of a phone conversation between the two about the song. As per People magazine, Swift countered that the leaks did not discredit her.

"Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b*tch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened…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 later wrote on Instagram in 2016.

According to BBC, almost a year after Kim Kardashian posted the edited phone call on Snapchat, Swift announced her sixth studio album, Reputation. Teasing it with snake-themed Instagram clips, she appeared to reclaim the snake emoji that had flooded her comments previously during the controversy.

In the lead single Look What You Made Me Do, the music video was filled with references to the drama, including Shakespeare’s “Et tu, Brute” inscribed on her chair - a symbolic nod to betrayal - seemingly aimed at West, per People magazine.

In January 2019, Kim Kardashian reportedly attempted to end the lingering animosity. At the time, she appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and said that she felt the feud had run its course, but all had "moved on.” Rolling Stone reported that an extended footage of the phone call leaked online in March 2020. This prompted a fresh wave of discussion.

However, over time, the conflict between Taylor Swift and Kanye West seemed to fade, but that truce was short-lived.

(L-R) Taylor Swift, Jay Z, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian West at the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 8, 2015. (Image via Getty)

On April 10, 2025, E! News reported that West had once again invoked the VMAs moment. This time, he did it in connection with his absence from the Super Bowl Halftime Show lineup.

In a since-deleted April 7 post on X, Kanye West claimed he was barred from performing due to three controversial moments in his career, including "the Taylor Swift moment." He also said he had been "blocked from the main stage" for being "ahead of my time," adding a reference to his later antisemitic statements.

Kanye West did not perform at the 2025 Super Bowl, but he made a brief appearance in a 30-second Yeezy commercial that aired during the broadcast.

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Taylor Swift announced her upcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Travis Kelce's podcast.

On the other hand, Kanye West recently released his thirteenth studio album, In a Perfect World, on May 9, 2025.