Image via Complex Original
Sunday night, Kim Kardashian channeled her inner Cersei Lannister and used Snapchat videos to burn Taylor Swift to the ground by providing proof that Swift did approve, at least in part, the lyrics to Kanye West’s “Famous” in a truly impressive Game of Phones battle. The internet exploded instantaneously, with Swift’s squeaky-clean reputation as a beacon for all things innocent and good being the primary casualty. Many who had long-suspected Swift of unseemly manipulation felt vindicated as social media became crowded with snake emojis and #KimExposedTaylorParty memes as Kim watched from her tower in Calabasas.
In response, Taylor posted on Instagram, writing, “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.” However, this is 2016 and no publicist can erase all the times Swift has seemingly dragged people into a narrative of her own. The internet, like a diseased but still functional elephant, never forgets. The fact is, Swift has made some shady moves in her career, dragging fellow celebrities, critics, and even music services through the proverbial mud. Here are 10 of those moments.
Taylor Swift vs. Camilla Belle
Swift is hung up on the lyrics of “Famous,” but she's hardly innocent of provocation in song. On her 2010 hit, “Better Than Revenge,” Swift called out actress Camilla Belle for “stealing” her boyfriend Joe Jonas. She also called Belle an actress “who is better known for the things that she does on the mattress.” Publicly slut-shaming someone doesn’t really gel with Swift’s alleged quest to support other women. Six years later, Belle had the last word by throwing some Instagram shade at Swift. “No need for revenge. Just sit back & wait. Those who hurt you will eventually screw up themselves & if you’re lucky, God will let you watch.”
Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West
This was it. The 2016 Grammys was the moment when Swift played the victim once more and made Kanye West the villain in her acceptance speech for Album of the Year. “There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” she said referencing the “I made that bitch famous” line that, as far as we’ve seen, was the part not approved by Swift. (But has Swift ever contacted her exes to clear a lyric? Just saying). The whole thing felt like a not-so-subtle throwback to 2009 and that fateful moment West bumrushed the stage at the MTV VMAs. Well, this isn’t 2009 anymore and Swift is no longer innocent or a child. She purposefully refueled the feud in public so that she would look like a female hero—which she did—until Kim Kardashian came along.
Taylor Swift vs. John Mayer
Swift was 19 when she worked with John Mayer in the studio. Something didn’t go right—probably because Mayer is a notorious womanizer and a self-admitted recovering ego-addict—and Swift dragged him into her narrative, penning an obvious diss track about their relationship/hookup/moment together titled “Dear John” that painted a picture of Mayer as a cold guy with a sick need to toy with her emotions. In response, Mayer admitted to Rolling Stone that it “really humiliated” him before adding, “It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
Taylor Swift vs. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
Remember the 2013 Golden Globes? Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the event, mocking the rich celebrities in the room throughout the night. Which is to say they were doing their jobs. The pair made a reference to Swift’s dating habits, with Fey joking that Swift should “stay away from Michael J. Fox's son” and use “some me time to learn about herself.” In her misguided response in Vanity Fair, Swift simultaneously played the victim card and misused Madeleine Albright’s quote, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Albright was speaking about feminism. Swift somehow didn’t understand.
Taylor Swift vs. Harry Styles
Back in 2013, Swift took the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to accept her Best Female Video award for “I Knew You Were Trouble,” but quickly turned her acceptance speech into an opportunity to slam her ex, Harry Styles. “I also wanna thank the person who inspired the song, who knows exactly who he is, because now I got one of these!” The camera immediately cut to Styles who kept his shit together in the face of this public airing of dirty laundry.
Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry
Swift recruited what felt like all of America’s rich and famous to be in her star-studded “Bad Blood” video in May of 2015—everyone except the person who the song was allegedly about. Instead, Swift’s BFF Selena Gomez rocked a wig that gave her an eerie resemblance to Katy Perry, the assumed subject of the song who who allegedly poached Swift’s backup dancers for her own tour. Swift implicitly confirmed this to Rolling Stone (“She did something so horrible. I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn't even about a guy! It had to do with business.”), but Perry was quick to point out the irony of Swift promoting a message of female support and assembling her girl-squad in a music video to take down another woman. Swift later tried to retract the beef in an interview with GQ by saying the song was actually about a past relationship, but she didn’t convince many.
Taylor Swift vs. Nicki Minaj
“If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year,” Minaj tweeted about the 2015 VMAs. Of course, Swift instantly took that as a dig about her specifically. As opposed to, you know, systemic standards of beauty perpetuated by the racist white American patriarchy, and delivered her petulant response, “Maybe one of the men took your slot..” SMH.
Taylor Swift Trademarking 1989
After trademarking “this sick beat,” Swift decided she also wanted to go after the rights to the year 1989. Yes, she wanted to own a year that millions of other people were born in so that her fans people couldn’t rip her lyrics for merch. Basically, anyone who puts 1989 on a sweet T-shirt in support of Swift and tries to sell it on Etsy would be screwed. Real understanding of her.
Taylor Swift vs. Calvin Harris
Despite their initial attempt to keep their split PR-friendly, Swift and Calvin’s breakup exploded before the internet’s eyes. Swift quickly fell into the arms—and in front of paparazzi lenses—with new boyfriend Tom Hiddleston. Then, months after the release of Harris and Rihanna’s hit, “This Is What You Came For,” a Swift source purposely told “leaked” to the press that Swift had actually co-written the hit under a pseudonym. The whole thing played out like an obvious ploy to make Calvin look bad. Seemingly over it, he slammed the PR ploy on Twitter. Meanwhile, Perry is kicking back comfortably from the social media sidelines and posting subtweets with GIFs of Hillary that tell us, “I told you so.”
Taylor Swift vs. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Kim Kardashian ripped FamousGate wide open when she posted a Snapchat video of Swift and Kanye's phone call conversation about the “Famous” lyrics as the episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians aired on E!, detailing her interview with GQ where she first called out Swift for lying. Kardashian sat on this video for months as Swift released statement after statement contradicting herself, picking apart certain “misogynistic messages” before finally landing on the word “bitch” as the ultimate betrayal. In a last attempt, Swift posted a note on Instagram—which was likely premeditated and written a while ago—asking to be “excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be part of, since 2009.”
Taylor Swift vs. Instagram
During the fallout of KimYe’s video, fans and former fans began to drop legions of snake emojis—on what happened to be National Snake Day as pointed out by Kim— into Swift’s Instagram comments. But, weirdly, they’ve all disappeared. Now, there’s no proof that Swift hit up Instagram for protection from trolls, but it’s pretty suspect that mere days after FamousGate, Instagram changed their rules to allow for no more than 26 special characters on a verified account. In a statement, Instagram said, “We're always looking for better ways to help people prevent spammy or inappropriate comments on Instagram.” If only things changed as quickly for the trolls who attacked Leslie Jones, but we guess Jones doesn’t hold the same PR power as Taylor Swift. Thankfully, the Lannisters Kardashians always pay their debts.