Taylor Swift’s Feuds With Katy Perry, Kanye West and More: Where Are They Now?

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/2019 iHeartMedia/Getty Images

Taylor Swift’s Feuds With Katy Perry, Kanye West and More: Where Are They Now?

Ooh, look what they made her do. Taylor Swift’s feuds with ex-boyfriends and ex-friends have kept fans enraptured over the years, especially because she often turns her high-profile beefs into chart-topping hits. The pop star never names the targets of her lyrical disses, but Swifties hardly have to read between the lines to know who inspired “Bad Blood” or “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” for example. Swift’s feuds can often drag on for years, as well. Kim Kardashian may have fired another shot at Swift by scheduling a fragrance release for the same day in April 2019 that the singer is expected to drop new music, that fateful date coming nearly a decade after Swift’s tension with Kanye West, Kardashian’s estranged husband, first started. The reality star, who filed for divorce from West in February 2021, later showed support for the performer five years after their feud first started. “I really like a lot of her songs,” the Skims founder said during a December 2021 episode of the “Honestly With Bari Weiss” podcast when asked what her favorite track was. “They’re all super cute and catchy. I’d have to look in my phone to get a name.” Meanwhile, Swift's feud with musician Damon Albarn must have set a record for its quick resolve. The Blur band member raised eyebrows when he claimed that the Valentine's Day actress wasn't considered a songwriter if she wasn't the only one with that credit on the track. [jwplayer HtWh5NAk-zhNYySv2] "That doesn’t count. I know what cowriting is. Cowriting is very different to writing," Albarn said during an interview with the Los Angeles Times in January 2022. "I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who cowrites. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great." At the time, Swift was quick to call out the insult when it came to her music. "I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f--ked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW," she tweeted the next day. "PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering." Albarn replied one hour later, writing, "I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand." Swift's past collaborator John Paul White also came to her defense, tweeting, "I can personally guarantee that she was a major part of the songwriting on Safe and Sound. She proved to be one of the best I’ve ever worked with. Selfless, generous, insightful, nuanced - with a CLEAR understanding of the assignment." Scroll down to read more updates on Swift’s feud partners — including those whose names are still on her list, in red and underlined. [podcast_block]

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/2019 iHeartMedia/Getty Images

Taylor Swift’s Feuds With Katy Perry, Kanye West and More: Where Are They Now?

Ooh, look what they made her do. Taylor Swift’s feuds with ex-boyfriends and ex-friends have kept fans enraptured over the years, especially because she often turns her high-profile beefs into chart-topping hits. The pop star never names the targets of her lyrical disses, but Swifties hardly have to read between the lines to know who inspired “Bad Blood” or “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” for example. Swift’s feuds can often drag on for years, as well. Kim Kardashian may have fired another shot at Swift by scheduling a fragrance release for the same day in April 2019 that the singer is expected to drop new music, that fateful date coming nearly a decade after Swift’s tension with Kanye West, Kardashian’s estranged husband, first started. The reality star, who filed for divorce from West in February 2021, later showed support for the performer five years after their feud first started. “I really like a lot of her songs,” the Skims founder said during a December 2021 episode of the “Honestly With Bari Weiss” podcast when asked what her favorite track was. “They’re all super cute and catchy. I’d have to look in my phone to get a name.” Meanwhile, Swift's feud with musician Damon Albarn must have set a record for its quick resolve. The Blur band member raised eyebrows when he claimed that the Valentine's Day actress wasn't considered a songwriter if she wasn't the only one with that credit on the track. [jwplayer HtWh5NAk-zhNYySv2] "That doesn’t count. I know what cowriting is. Cowriting is very different to writing," Albarn said during an interview with the Los Angeles Times in January 2022. "I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who cowrites. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great." At the time, Swift was quick to call out the insult when it came to her music. "I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f--ked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW," she tweeted the next day. "PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering." Albarn replied one hour later, writing, "I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand." Swift's past collaborator John Paul White also came to her defense, tweeting, "I can personally guarantee that she was a major part of the songwriting on Safe and Sound. She proved to be one of the best I’ve ever worked with. Selfless, generous, insightful, nuanced - with a CLEAR understanding of the assignment." Scroll down to read more updates on Swift’s feud partners — including those whose names are still on her list, in red and underlined. [podcast_block]

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Taylor Swift vs. Diplo

The one-sided beef between Diplo and Swift kicked off when the DJ, who was dating Katy Perry at the time, dissed the singer via Twitter in November 2014. “Someone should make a kickstarter to get taylor swift a booty,” he wrote. After making more untoward comments about the singer and her fans in the years since, in a 2019 interview with ES Magazine, the Major Lazer artist called his remarks about Swift “the worst decision of my career.” In March 2022, Diplo referred to himself as an “unabashedly crazy person” when he first started using Twitter. “I would make fun of other artists, and that really came back to hurt me in the end,” he explained to Input Magazine. “Like I had huge beefs with Lorde and Taylor Swift at the time. And I thought it was so funny, but you know, people hold you accountable for your Twitter in such a strange way. It’s not real life. Sarcasm doesn't come through on social media.”


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Taylor Swift vs. Damon Albarn

Albarn made it onto Swift's radar when he slammed her songwriting credits.

"Some of the greatest singers — I mean, Ella Fitzgerald never wrote a song in her life. When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense," he told the LA Times in January 2022. "A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional."

Albarn apologized right after Swift slammed his comments, tweeting, "I totally agree with you. I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait." 

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Taylor Swift vs. Kim Kardashian

After Swift called West out over the line, Kardashian defended her then husband by posting footage of Swift commending some of the rapper’s lyrics (he did not tell her about the "that bitch" line) and by tweeting snake emojis in an apparent reference to Swift. The reality star said she was “over” the feud with Swift in January 2019, but Swift had more to say on the topic. “It would be nice if we could get an apology from people who bully us, but maybe all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive it, and thrive in spite of it,” the singer wrote in an Elle essay that March.

Swift reignited her beef with Kardashian and West in March 2020 when the full version of her leaked phone conversation with the Chicago native surfaced online. At the time, Swift took to her Instagram Stories to note that the new footage proved she “was telling the truth the whole time.” The “Lover” singer also called out Kardashian for leaking the video on Snapchat in the first place.

“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…,” Swift wrote.

Kardashian took the fight to Twitter, claiming that Swift was “actually lying” about what really went down. “To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission… They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘bitch’ was used without her permission,” the reality star explained. “At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.’”

Kardashian continued, “The lie was never about the word ‘bitch,’ It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation. I never edited the footage (another lie) — I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry

The pop stars’ “Bad Blood” began when Swift claimed Perry poached some of her backup dancers in 2014. Perry sent Swift an actual olive branch in May 2018, and the following March, the “Swish Swish” singer said she’s “open” to collaborating with Swift.

The two women buried the hatchet for good in June 2019, with Perry making a guest appearance in Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” music video.

“You know … we’ve been on good terms for a while,” Swift explained at the time. “She sent me a really nice note and olive branch … like, an actual olive branch, to my tour, which started … the Reputation stadium tour awhile ago, and from that point on, we’ve been on good terms.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West

West first clashed with Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when he crashed her acceptance speech to say Beyoncé deserved Swift’s award. The musicians buried the hatchet long enough for Swift to present the rapper with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs, but the feud reignited in February 2016 when West rapped in his track “Famous” that he “made that bitch famous,” referring to Swift.  In the music video for the song, West featured lookalike sleeping bodies of famous personalities, including Swift. The lookalikes were naked.

Swift made it clear she wasn’t over her issues with Kimye in June 2019, referencing their drama in her lengthy Tumblr post about Scooter Braun acquiring her masters. 

“All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at [Scooter’s] hands for years. Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it,” she claimed at the time. “Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked.” 

(Kardashian and West have yet to publicly comment on Swift's statement about Braun. Swift also did not appear in West's music video, it was a lookalike.)  

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Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun

The “ME!” singer slammed the popular manager in a lengthy Tumblr post in June 2019 after he bought her former label, Big Machine Records, and subsequently acquired her masters. Swift claimed she’s been the victim of “incessant manipulative bullying” from Braun and his clients, including Justin Bieber and West.

“Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” she wrote. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it. This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.”

Swift also alleged that Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta, who made the deal with Braun, knew she would be upset by the news. “Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to,” the singer wrote. “He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”

Braun, for his part, has yet to publicly comment on Swift’s claims. His wife, Yael Cohen, however, defended him via Instagram. “Let’s get the facts straight. You were given the opportunity to own your masters, you passed. Interesting that the man you’re so ‘grossed out’ by believed in you more than you believe in yourself,” the F--k Cancer founder wrote. “And girl, who are you to talk about bullying? The world has watched you collect and drop friends like wilted flowers. My husband is anything but a bully, he’s spent his life standing up for people and causes he believes in.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Justin Bieber

Rumors surfaced in 2013 that Swift didn’t like Bieber after she stuck her tongue out when the singer kissed then-girlfriend Selena Gomez, Swift’s close friend, backstage at the Billboard Music Awards.

It wasn’t until Bieber was mentioned in Swift’s aforementioned post about Braun, however, that she addressed any issues between them. “This is Scooter Braun, bullying me on social media when I was at my lowest point. He’s about to own all the music I’ve ever made,” Swift captioned a photo of West, Bieber and Braun FaceTiming in 2016. The “Sorry” crooner apologized for the “hurtful” photo in a response, but also clapped back at Swift.

“I have to be honest though it was my caption and post that I screenshoted (SIC) of scooter and Kanye that said ‘taylor swift what up’ he didnt have anything to do with it and it wasnt even a part of the conversation in all actuality he was the person who told me not to joke like that,” Bieber wrote. “Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you.! As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Demi Lovato

After Lovato infamously told the paparazzi to “Ask Taylor!” when asked about former bestie Gomez in 2009, it was clear the two women weren’t close. The “Body Say” singer has since slammed Swift on multiple occasions, including for her drama with Perry.

"I think in certain situations, certain people could be doing more if they're going to claim [feminism] as part of their brand," Lovato told Glamour in 2016. "I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that's not women's empowerment. We all do things that aren't, but I have to ask myself, 'Am I content with calling myself a feminist?' Yes, because I speak out."

During Swift’s drama with Braun, Lovato stood up for the manager, who signed her earlier that year.

“Personally, I’m grateful he came into my life when he did. Please stop ‘dragging’ people or bullying them. There’s enough hate in this world as it is,” she wrote on Instagram Story in June 2019. “Y’all can come after me all you want but I’m always gonna stay loyal to my team. I value loyalty more than most people in this world and if my name is gonna be brought into conversations I’m gonna stand up for myself and the ones on my team.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Calvin Harris

In July 2016, after news broke that Swift helped write Harris’ hit “This Is What You Came For,” the Scottish DJ lashed out at his ex on Twitter, writing, “Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though. … I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy [Perry] ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it.” Nearly a year later, he expressed remorse over the situation in an interview with British GQ: “It was completely the wrong instinct. I was protecting what I see as my one talent in the world being belittled. It felt like things were piling on top of me and that was when I snapped.”

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Taylor Swift vs. John Mayer

Swift all but named ex Mayer as the subject of her 2010 song “Dear John,” a track he later said embarrassed him. “I never got an email,” he told Rolling Stone in June 2012. “I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. … I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.” More than six years later, though, he told concertgoers that Swift’s album Reputation is “a fine piece of work.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Joe Jonas

In November 2008, Swift claimed the “Sucker” singer dumped her with a 27-second phone call the month prior. Jonas offered his version of the events in a Myspace post that same month: “For those who have expressed concern over the ’27 second’ phone call, I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk.” The former couple have since made peace, even going on a double date in June 2015 with then-partners Calvin Harris and Gigi Hadid.

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Taylor Swift vs. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

After the Saturday Night Live alums made a joke about Swift’s love life at the 2013 Golden Globes, Swift expressed her outrage with a Madeleine Albright quote: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Fey later told Entertainment Tonight that it was a “shame she didn’t take [the joke] in the crazy-aunt spirit in which it was intended.”

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Taylor Swift vs. Nicki Minaj

Swift had a brief showdown with Minaj in July 2015 when she thought the MC was slamming Swift’s 2015 MTV VMA nomination instead of just making a general statement about the field of nominees. Swift tweeted an apology and Minaj brought her on stage during her VMAs performance that year.