What Really Went Down Between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian? Reliving Their Years-Long Feud By Shelby Stivale

Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian have had a rocky road, but where do they stand now after their years-long feud?

To be fair, it’s not Kardashian’s fault that she was dragged into drama with Swift. She just happened to be married to Kanye West, and defending her now-ex-husband made things pretty complicated.

In 2009, West infamously interrupted Swift’s VMAs acceptance speech, declaring that Beyoncé should have won that particular award instead. West subsequently apologized, and it seemed that everything was copacetic — until 2016, when West dropped his Life of Pablo album.

The record includes the song “Famous,” on which West says, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? / I made that bitch famous.”

Taylor Swift Feuds
Related: Taylor Swift’s Feuds: Where Are They Now?
Swift released a statement at the time, declaring that she was not aware she would be referred to as “that bitch” in the song — but Kardashian felt otherwise.

Are Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian Friends
Getty Images (2)
“She totally approved that,” the reality star claimed of the lyric in her June 2016 GQ cover story. A few snake emojis later, her feud with Swift was born.

Keep scrolling for a complete timeline of the drama:

2009
Are Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian Friends
Taylor Swift, Rita Ora and Kim Kardashian in the VIP Glamour area at the MTV EMAs Dave Hogan/MTV 2012/Getty Images
Kardashian called herself “the biggest Taylor Swift fan” during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

August 2015
When West and Swift buried the hatchet at the MTV VMAs, Kardashian was present. The Skims founder stood with her arm around the singer as West took the stage to accept the Video Vanguard Award.

June 2016
Kardashian defended West’s “Famous” lyric in her GQ interview.

“She totally knew that that was coming out,” Kardashian claimed. “She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn’t. I swear, my husband gets so much s—t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved.”

Swift later argued that Kardashian’s account of what went down between herself and West was “incorrect,” claiming that she and West “only spoke once on the phone” about “Famous” in January 2016 and she “never denied that conversation.”

July 2016
Are Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian Friends
aylor Swift, Jay Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West attend The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Kardashian released the footage of Swift and West’s phone call via Snapchat — complete with snake emojis. During the conversation, Swift appeared to only be privy to the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” which she signed off on. Her biggest issue was with the “I made that bitch famous” portion.

“Of course I wanted to like the song. I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song. I wanted us to have a friendly relationship. He promised to play the song for me, but he never did,” Swift posted after the video went public. “While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.”

Kanye West jumps onstage after Taylor Swift
Related: Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s Tumultuous History: A Timeline
August 2017
Swift released “Look What You Made Me Do” as a way to reclaim her career — and the use of snake imagery.

January 2019
Are Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian Friends
Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian at the MTV Video Music Awards John Shearer/Getty Images
Kardashian declared that she had “moved on” from the Swift drama during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

March 2020
The full phone call between Swift and West was leaked online, proving that she really wasn’t privy to the “bitch” line.

“Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family and fans through hell for 4 years) … SWIPE UP to see what really matters,” Swift posted at the time, promoting the World Health Organization and Feeding America amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kardashian responded as well, asserting that her “only issue” with Swift was that she “lied,” adding, “They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘bitch’ was used without her permission.”

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thanK you aIMee
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December 2021
“I really like a lot of her songs,” Kardashian said during a podcast interview. “They’re all super cute and catchy. I’d have to look in my phone to get a name.”

January 2023
Kardashian’s eldest daughter, North West, posted a video dancing to Swift’s “Shake It Off.”

December 2023
Swift reflected on the feud during an interview with TIME, calling it “a career death” that “took [her] down psychologically to a place [she’d] never been before.”

“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” she recalled.

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When Swift released The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, she included a song called “thanK you aIMee,” which appeared to be a reference to Kardashian as the capitalized letters spell out KIM.

The lyrics paint the seemingly fictional Aimee as a bully, which is how Swift has alluded to Kardashian in the past. Swift did, however, offer Aimee some credit at one point in the track.

“I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed ‘F—k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’,” she sings. “But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”

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In 2009, West infamously interrupted Swift’s VMAs acceptance speech, declaring that Beyoncé should have won that particular award instead. West subsequently apologized, and it seemed that everything was copacetic — until 2016, when West dropped his Life of Pablo album.

The record includes the song “Famous,” on which West says, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? / I made that bitch famous.”