Years ago, a rift between Taylor Swift and Kimye (the melded moniker given to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) changed the trajectory of three high-profile careers forever.
Ahead of the big 2016 falling out, the trio of stars were apparently close. Close enough, in fact, that Kanye — several years after his infamous tantrum at the 2009 VMAs — called up Swift for approval on a set of controversial lyrics. The entire ordeal, conducted by Kardashian at the peak of her popularity, led to a high-profile beef that stretched years and is now prepped to rise back to the surface with the arrival of “thanK you aIMee” and the impending release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version).
Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian’s frenemy timeline
The disunity between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian started, in many ways, before the pair ever became friends. Kanye West is the controversial lynchpin in their tumultuous relationship, which started back in 2009 with West’s outburst at the VMAs. After storming on stage to interrupt a 19-year-old Swift — who, at the time, was in the midst of accepting the award for MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video — West was subject to broad backlash, which he later sought to turn in his favor.
That didn’t come about until 2016, after he and Swift had reconciled, and while he and Kardashian were happily married. During the pinnacle of Kimye popularity, West released The Life of Pablo, and nestled among its tracks was “Famous,” the song that started their downfall.
The track contains the line “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b*tch famous,” and, in response to its release, Swift spoke up to share her discomfort at being labeled a “b*tch.” Kardashian and West alleged, however, that Swift had approved the lyrics, and following Kardashian’s leak of a phone conversation (which seemed to confirm the Kimye narrative) Swift’s reputation was briefly trashed.
So much so, in fact, that Swift deleted many of her socials after her comment sections were overtaken by snake emojis and harsh accusations. All the hate inspired 2017’s Reputation, in which Swift took ownership of the snake imagery and struck back at West and Kardashian via the music video for “Look What You Made Me Do.”
Just a few years later, in 2019, Swift indicated in an Elle cover story that West and Kardashian failed to apologize for the “hate campaign” they led against the decade-younger artist. The duo never really responded to her note that “bullies want to be feared and taken seriously,” but they couldn’t avoid the pushback that followed a year later.
That’s when the full, unaltered audio of Swift’s conversation with Kanye leaked online, revealing for the first time the holes in Kimye’s 2016 narrative. It revealed that Swift was never clued into the lyric calling her a “b*tch,” and that Kanye promised to send her the full track ahead of its release for approval, something Swift maintains he never did.
The leaked call exonerated Swift in the eyes of many, even as it condemned both Kardashian and West. Swift’s response only cemented her, to many fans, as the hero of the narrative, after she posted to Instagram acknowledging the leaked footage but pivoting fans to instead donate to charities intended for those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kardashian gave a lame response of her own, but failed to win many people back to her side. Her continued finger pointing paled in comparison to what many saw as a classy response from Swift, and — for a while, at least — the issue was put behind them. Kardashian even tried to sweep the entire beef under the rug in 2021 when she praised Swift’s songwriting talents, and again in 2023 when she re-shared a birthday tribute that contained a Taylor Swift song.
In 2023, Swift candidly addressed the struggles she endured in the wake of the leaked phone call and Kimye’s manipulation of the narrative. She expressed that, at the time, it felt like “career death” and noted that it took her to a very low place. The now-34-year-old artist eventually recovered (and in spectacular form), but that blip in her career changed the singer permanently.
Things are all coming back around in 2024 as a legion of Swift fans makes guesses about who “thanK you aIMee” is aimed at — note that the capitalized letters spell “Kim” — and eagerly await the next “Taylor’s Version” release, which many expect to be Reputation. If they’re correct, the Kimye/Taylor dispute is sure to rise back to the forefront of conversations as renewed examination of songs — and likely at least some fresh content — remind people of just how much history these famous frenemies share.
