In case you haven’t been paying attention, the world all but imploded on Monday when Kim Kardashian posted a video on Snapchat of a phone call between her hubby Kanye West and Taylor Swift. The phone call was regarding the lyrics of Kanye’s song “Famous,” which has been at the center of the most recent celebrity feud.
After seeing a lot of the response from social media, I have a feeling people are only reading headlines and not taking a look at what’s actually occurring in this feud. So if you’re one of those people, or if you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, here’s a breakdown of what’s happened so far.
On Feb. 11 “Famous” is released on Ye’s most recent album, "Life Of Pablo," which debuted at his Yeezy Season 3 fashion show with the lyrics “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.”
The Internet went crazy, much like it’s doing now, and there was a ton of speculation about whether or not Taylor knew about the song lyrics before the release.
Taylor’s rep said “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 b**ch famous.'"
On Feb. 12 as is his typical fashion, Kanye went on a tweet spree about the situation, claiming that he did not diss Taylor and that he in fact “called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings." He basically said it was Taylor’s idea to begin with. OK, Kanye. Whatever you say.
On Feb. 15, when Tay won album of the year at the Grammys she pretty much called Kanye out in her acceptance speech by saying, “I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments and your fame…" Definitely a Tay-take down.
So Kanye says a number of shady things over the next three months but the drama was pretty low-key.
On June 24, Kanye releases the video to “Famous” which features a bunch of wax figures of naked celebrities lying in bed with one another and Kim and Kanye. Surprise, surprise: Taylor is one of them.
In July we have Kim on the cover of GQ with an interview saying Taylor knew about and approved the lyrics. Kim also claimed to have recorded the phone call that took place.
Taylor's rep fires back, basically reiterating her first statement but also taking a stab at Kim and implying that she’s just doing whatever her husband is telling her to do.
Then Kim releases recorded parts of the phone call on her Snapchat. In the videos, Kanye reads Taylor the first line, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” of which Taylor seems supportive. But there is no mention of the other half of the lyrics.
Taylor posts on her social media accounts about how she wanted to be supportive on the phone call and was promised that she would be played the song, but ultimately she was not given the full story.
So then of course all us normal folk had to get on our social media accounts and have at it. #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty was trending almost all day, as was #KimExposedTaylorParty.
To put it simply, I was appalled at the reactions from some people. The number of individuals calling Taylor a snake and writing terrible things about her was shocking. I was, however, more amazed at the number of people praising Kim and Kanye.
It’s so sad that in our society we take pleasure in watching people go at one another. We praise talentless individuals for secretly recording phone calls (which is illegal by the way) rather than having sympathy for someone who keeps getting dragged into a feud she wants no part of.
Of course this situation has a lot of he said, she said, but I don’t think Taylor deserves to be called a liar. Yes, she gave Kanye her seal of approval, but not regarding the misogynistic lyric about how he made her famous, which is what she and her rep continually reiterated.
Taylor is allowed to change her mind and, more importantly, she’s allowed to be upset about this.
I think the Internet got too caught up in grasping at the possibility that Taylor Swift might not be America’s sweetheart (news flash: she still is) to give her a fair chance and really evaluate the situation.
I mean can we talk about their history for a second? Kanye literally ripped the microphone out of Swift’s hands as she was accepting her very first VMA. Who does that?
And why do we idolize Kim Kardashian, anyway? Oh right, because her father was the defense attorney who let O.J. Simpson get away with murder. And let’s not forget her certain assets that were on display during a certain film featuring her hubby.
Keep in mind these two have children. What a great example they're setting.
If I’m being frank, they're the real snakes.
At the end of the day, I have no doubt Swift will be able to shake this off—hopefully in the form of a song that puts both these two on blast.
