Kanye West ‘kicked’ Taylor Swift : Taylor said that after many years, she learned the lesson: “There’s no point in trying to defeat the enemy. Garbage always eliminates itself.”….
The singer’s fans were upset after Time published an article honoring her as Person of the Year on December 6. In it, Taylor talked about a dark time: “My career was taken away. I have never been so mentally depressed.
I moved to another country, didn’t leave my rented house for a year, I’m afraid to talk on the phone. I stay away from most people because I no longer trust anyone.”
Taylor added that after many years, she learned the lesson: “There’s no point in trying to defeat the enemy. Garbage always eliminates itself.”
The incident that caused Taylor to collapse involved Kanye West and Kim Kardashian – the rapper’s wife at that time.
In the song Famous (2016), Kanye wrote: “I feel like me and Taylor could have s.3x. Why? Because I made that bitch famous.” The rapper said Taylor agreed with the lyrics but she denied it.
A Timeline of Kanye West & Taylor Swift’s Relationship
Here’s a look back at the feud that started at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
Kanye West accepts the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award from Taylor Swift onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Aug. 30, 2015 in Los Angeles. Jeff Kravitz/MTV1415/FilmMagic
The ever-evolving saga of Kanye West and Taylor Swift‘s public relationship seems to be a nonstop roller-coaster ride, starting with West interrupting Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, continuing to their public reconciliation and then devolving all over again thanks to some lightning-rod lyrics and a recorded phone call.
That infamous phone call has even involved West’s now ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, with the reality star claiming in her 2016 GQ cover story that the pop superstar had “approved” of the “Famous” lyric that refers to Swift as a “b—h.” The drama then made its way into an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, with the SKIMS founder defending “talking s–t” about Swift, and insisting that husband West is “always so honest.”
The feud only escalated from there, when in July 2016, Kardashian — who finalized her divorce from West in November 2022 — shared video footage of that recorded call on Snapchat, with the clip seemingly showing Swift considering the “b—h” lyric to be a compliment.
The pop superstar fought back, noting that the video never shows her approving of the line in question and that she couldn’t have given the thumbs-up to a song she hadn’t even heard.
The call and the feud continued to make headlines in the coming years, with Swift addressing the situation in a 2019 Rolling Stone profile, and yet another leaked video of the call arriving in 2020 showing that the pop star didn’t give her permission for the “Famous” lyric, and the “Anti-Hero” singer speaking out about how it impacted her life in a TIME profile after being named the magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023.
Take a look back at Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s whirlwind history below, starting with that fateful night in September 2009.
Sept. 13, 2009: MTV VMAs
It was the awkward awards-show moment heard ’round the world, as West rushed the stage after Taylor Swift was awarded best female video at the MTV Video Music Awards for “You Belong With Me.” He infamously told her that he would let her finish, “but Beyonce had the best video of all time.”
A dumbfounded and upset-looking Swift left the stage, only to triumphantly return later in the evening. At the time, backlash against West was quick and severe, with even President Obama calling him “a jacka–.”
Sept. 14, 2009: Kanye Apologizes
A day after the VMAs, West appeared in a pre-planned appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. “It’s been a difficult day,” he explained. “I’m just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away from a talented artist or from anyone, because I only wanted to help people …
I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong … It’s someone’s emotions that I stepped on. It was rude, period.”
Sept. 19, 2009: Swift Says Kanye Hasn’t Called Yet
In the days following the awards show, it remained the top pop culture event in the country. On The View, Swift shared that West hadn’t called her to personally apologize and said, “I’m not going to say I wasn’t rattled by it.
I had to perform live five minutes later, so I had to get myself back to the place where I could perform. … All the other artists who showed me love in the hours following that, I just never imagined there were that many people out there looking out for me.”
Nov. 7, 2009: Her ‘SNL’ Monologue Song
Taylor Swift on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2009.
Swift had the last laugh for the time being when she hosted Saturday Night Live. In her well-reviewed monologue song — which she wrote herself — she charmingly sent up her image and made the joke everyone was inevitably waiting for about Mr. West stage-crashing.
Sept. 12, 2010: Back at the VMAs
Swift returned to the VMAs stage with a performance of the Speak Now track “Innocent,” widely believed to be written about West. The performance begins with footage from the infamous 2009 ceremony, then leads into Swift crooning in the chorus, “It’s all right/ Just wait and see/ Your string of lights is still bright to me/ Who you are is not where you’ve been/ You’re still an innocent/ … It’s OK/ Life is a tough crowd/ 32 and still growing up now.”
October 2010: Kanye Says He Had to Leave the Country
Kanye West and Ellen DeGeneres during The Ellen DeGeneres Show films the Second Annual “Ellen in the Park” with Kanye West at Johnny Carson Park in Burbank, Calif., in 2006.
Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, West said that following the reaction to “the Taylor Swift incident,” he basically had to leave the country, living overseas for a while. Responding to the “why?” West shared, “I feel in some ways I’m a soldier of culture.
And I realize no one wants that to be my job. I’ll never go onstage again, I’ll never sit at an awards show again, but will I feel conflicted about things that meant something to culture that constantly get denied for years and years and years? I’m sorry, I will. I cannot lie about it in order to sell records.”
