Staying neutral! Jared Leto revealed in a new interview that he has mad love for both his “friend” Kanye West and the rapper’s nemesis, Taylor Swift, despite the two chart-toppers’ ongoing feud.
Speaking with GQ Style for their latest cover story, the Suicide Squad actor, 44, positioned himself as Switzerland in the divisive battle between Yeezy and T. Swift.
“He’s a friend and has always been. Kanye has always been the nicest person to me, kind and generous. I think he’s a talent, and I really appreciate his ability to speak his mind,” Leto, who occasionally hangs out with the West, explained to the men’s fashion mag. “I’m very different. I’m very careful and cautious because I don’t want to deal with the other things that come along with speaking out like that. But I do appreciate that in other people.”
When it comes to Ye’s enemy Swift, Leto is also a big fan: “She’s great. She triggers a conversation with myself about what’s possible. And you know, the thing I like about Taylor is she’s a self-made woman. I see that in my mother [Constance Leto]. There were probably points in Taylor’s career where someone else maybe would have been knocked off balance by criticism or other challenges, and she just kept marching forward.”
Prior to giving a glowing endorsement for Swift’s talent, Leto was previously caught talking smack about her in a leaked video obtained by TMZ in December. After stating he “doesn’t give a f–k about” the “Blank Space” songstress, he took to Twitter on December 7 to clarify his comments.
“The truth is I think @taylorswift13 is amazing + an incredible example of what’s possible. If I hurt her or her fans my sincerest apologies,” he wrote.
As previously reported, Swift, 26, and West, 39, went head-to-head again back in February, when the hip-hop star dropped his controversial track “Famous,” in which he raps: “I feel like me and Taylor still might have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.” (The pair first butted heads, of course, at the MTV VMAs in 2009, when West bum-rushed the stage during her acceptance speech.)
The 1989 hitmaker’s war with West escalated when the musician’s wife, Kim Kardashian, claimed that Swift approved the line — and even helped write it — in a recorded phone conversation. Although Swift’s rep initially denied that such a discussion took place, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, 35, released the recording in a series of Snapchat videos on July 17.
“I mean go with whatever line you think is better. It’s obviously very tongue-in-cheek either way,” Swift tells West in one of the clips, “… And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.”
Later on, the former country starlet took to Instagram to share her frustration in Kardashian’s decision to release the phone call.
“Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened,” she wrote on July 18. “You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world. … He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard.”
