ANTI-HERO
Taylor Swift’s most notorious public spats – from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, to Joe Jonas and Katy Perry
What do you think the lyrics of thanK you aIMee are about?
TAYLOR SWIFT'S 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department has just dropped.
And amongst the 31 new songs, Swifties are convinced the 24th track is aimed at Kim Kardashian because 'thanK you aIMee' has the letters K, I and M capped up to coincidentally spell out her name.
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The ballad itself focuses on a seemingly fictional story of a feud that Taylor had with a woman called Aimee who appeared to be a bully and ended up being celebrated.
During the song, Taylor sings in one line: "There's a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school."
The 34-year-old billionaire seemingly hits out at Kim and Kayne's 10-year-old daughter North West as she sings: "And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin' a song that only us two is gonna know is about you."
North recently took to TikTok sharing a video of her singing a Taylor Swift track.
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Fans took to X immediately to theorise. One said: "The ultimate f**k you". A second commented: "OMFG thanK you aIMee is about Kim Kardashian. This album is SO unhinged." A third wrote: "Kim your day of reckoning is here. Welcome to your tape."
But why would Taylor reference Kim? Here's a look back at the 'vigilante s**t' she has with her and her ex-husband Kanye West.
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The feud between the 34-year-old superstar and West, 46, has been going on for over a decade when he got on stage and ruined her acceptance speech for her first VMA win.
But we all know that Taylor has got the last laugh, becoming the wealthiest pop star of all time with millions of adoring fans worldwide.
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It seems her public spats haven't even affected her likability - with many of her fans loving the drama.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one wrote: "Taylor Swift so petty we love to see it."
"I’m never gonna understand the Swifties that deny Taylor Swift’s pettiness. She is a petty person. AND I LOVE IT. Stop being cupcakes and learn to embrace it," wrote another.
We took a deep dive into the public feuds the songwriter has had over the years, from Kanye West to ex-lover Joe Jonas and producer Scooter Braun.
BIG REPUTATIONS
According to former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall, Taylor made some calls to get Kayne West away from her at this year's Super Bowl so she could enjoy watching her boyfriend, Travis Kelce play in peace.
On his Paper Route podcast, Marshall claimed that West bought seats directly in front of Swift's suite to photobomb her TV appearances.
However, Marshall claimed that Swift made "a call or two" to get West removed from Allegiant Stadium, although it seems unlikely even Taylor would have the power to remove him, especially if he bought tickets.
Taylor Swift 'removed Kanye West from Super Bowl seat after rapper bought tickets in front of pop stars suite'
Kanye and his new wife, Bianca Censori, were spotted at the Super Bowl - but not near Taylor at any time - and it's probably the best for both of them.
Kanye has also claimed the rumours of getting him moved were not true in a recent tweet where he also said he had helped Taylor's career.
The Flashing Lights rapper said: "I'm sure I've been far more helpful to Taylor Swift's career than harmful. To all Taylor Swift fans I am not your enemy uuum I’m not your friend either though lol.
I didn't know they were booing him doing that, I though they were booing me
Taylor Swift
"I didn’t get kicked out of the Super Bowl we left our seats to go to yg’s box and see different friends. My wife had never been to a Super Bowl so I wanted to walk around and have a nice time we had such a fun day," he added.
Their feud started back in 2009 when an up-and-coming Taylor won her first VMA for Best Female Music Video, for her song You Belong With Me.
All was going well as she accepted her award from Shakira - until Kanye stormed the stage and uttered these infamous words.
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish,” he said. “But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
The cameras cut immediately to Beyoncé, who was staring at the stage with her mouth agape in apparent horror. “Oh, Kanye,” she mouthed.
The crowd soon began to boo, and Taylor has since revealed she thought they were booing her.
"At the time, I didn't know they were booing him doing that, I thought they were booing me," she said in her Miss Americana documentary.
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However, that wasn't the case, over time the pair began to form a relationship but it all went out the window after Kanye asked to feature her in the song 'Famous.'
The 2016 phone call was leaked by Kim Kardashian on Snapchat, Kanye's then-wife after Taylor publicly called out the song and its music video for calling her a 'b***h' and showing a life-like figure of her naked body.
While the leak made it appear as if Taylor was fine with the song, it turns out she was never told he'd refer to her in a derogatory way - but people made up their minds and her social media was flooded with people calling her a snake and saying she was cancelled.
That's when Taylor decided to hide away from the public for a year - no paps spotted her and she decided to blackout her social media accounts until she released her sixth studio album, Reputation.
Around the time, a new leak of the phone call was published on Youtube, this time the full version which proved Taylor had been honest - although she has never publicly spoken on this leak.
Since then it appears the pair have not spoken again or tried to bury the hatchet and have avoided each other in public.
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BETTER THAN REVENGE
Taylor Swift has no problem letting people know when she's been done dirty - and she wasn't going to let Joe Jonas get away with his escapades.
The pair had a short-lived romance back in 2008 which left Taylor heartbroken, so much so that she discussed it on multiple TV shows.
She made headlines after publicly addressing their split on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, calling out Joe for breaking up with her in a 25-second phone call.
In a vlog on her MySpace account, she held a doll up of the singer and actor and said: "See, this one even comes with a phone so he can break up with other dolls."
Fortunately, the two have been able to become friends, with Taylor also becoming good friends with Joe's ex-wife and Game of Thrones actress, Sophie Turner who has always been a big Swiftie.
Taylor admitted she regrets putting Joe Jonas on blast while on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019 after being asked what was the most rebellious thing she did as a teen.
"Probably putting Joe Jonas on blast on your show, that was too much," Taylor told Ellen.
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Taylor Swift Trivia
Some fun facts you probably already know if you're a die-hard swifty
- Taylor Swift has three cats all named after her favourite TV show characters, Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button
- She grew up on a Christmas tree farm with her family in Pennsylvania
- As a child, Swift wanted to be a stockbroker, just like her dad
- The star has double-jointed elbows which she showed off during her 2016 Vogue 73 Questions Interview
- Taylor's lucky number is 13, as she was born on Friday 13, and has won every award when seated in the 13th seat or row at ceremonies
- She made history at the 2024 Grammys by becoming the first-ever Artist to win Album of the Year four times
BAD BLOOD
When Taylor revealed the hit song was about a woman in the music industry and not an ex-lover, all eyes were on Katy Perry.
The pair had been friends for years with Katy even playing a surprise song at Taylor's 2010 Fearless tour, but it all fell apart in 2014.
Honestly, it's really like she started it and it's time for her to finish it
Katy Perry
Without mentioning names, Taylor told Rolling Stone: "For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not.
"She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'"
Taylor added that the two became enemies when this unnamed star tried to sabotage her next tour by hiring 'a bunch of people out from under me'.
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The rumours that the two were in a catfight were finally settled in 2017 when Katy Perry, 39 addressed it during James Cordon's Carpool Karaoke segment.
"Honestly, it's really like she started it and it's time for her to finish it," she told him as she explained her side of the feud.
"Okay, so there was like three backing dancers that went on tour with her tour (sic), right? And they asked me before they went on tour if they could go, and I was like, 'Yeah, of course. I'm not on a record cycle and get the work, and she's great and all that."
Katy let them know when she was back on tour so they could join if they wanted, and according to the star, they asked management but were fired.
Thankfully, the two have put aside their differences when Katy gave Taylor an olive branch while touring her Reputation album.
Taylor shared the gift on Instagram which was received with a letter that read 'Hey old friend,' that put the bad blood to rest.
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LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO
Taylor has always been vocal about artist rights within the industry - so much so that she took her music off Spotify in 2014 years as she didn't agree with the royalties artists received.
She re-added her music back in 2017 but has still been vocal about owning her work and getting the credit she rightfully deserves.
Taylor wrote a lengthy post on her Tumblr in 2019 slamming Scooter Braun after he bought her former label Big Machine and subsequently, her masters, which she was hoping to buy herself.
“Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” she wrote.
This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept
Taylor Swift
“Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it. This is my worst-case scenario.
"This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it."
And she was equally as ticked off with the founder of the record label Scott Borchetta, who made the deal with Scooter.
"Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to,” the singer wrote.
“He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”
Never one to go down without a fight, Taylor found a clause in her contract which meant she could re-record her old music and did just that.
She has reproduced four of her six albums, adding Taylor's Version to the end to reclaim her music.
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KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE
Tales of Taylor's dislike towards Justin Bieber began circulating in 2013, when the pop icon, now 29, was dating her best friend, Selena Gomez.
Taylor could be spotted sticking her tongue out and rolling her eyes in disgust as the pair looked loved up.
But the icing on the cake was when the blonde beauty refused to answer questions about him during press interviews after the Billboards Award show.
Asked about her thoughts of Justin winning the Milestone Award so young, she looked fairly frustrated as she asked for another question to be asked instead.
Looking blankly at the crown of journalists she asked: "Can we have another question?"
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Although it's not confirmed why the pair don't get on - we have a feeling it may have something to do with Selena and Justin's rocky relationship.
Now split for good, Taylor and Justin no longer seem to be sworn enemies - it doesn't seem like a reconciliation is on the cards anytime soon.
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