Taylor Swift will no longer allow herself to be silenced — but that doesn’t mean she’s always had the confidence to defend herself in the public eye. The “Me!” songstress didn’t hold back while discussing her famous feud with Kanye West, her rekindled friendship with Katy Perry and how she’s evolved over the years in her October Rolling Stone cover story.
Swift, 29, detailed what people didn’t get about her anger toward West, 42, after he released his 2015 song “Famous,” in which he refers to her as a “bitch,” and how she was looking for approval from him following his 2009 MTV VMA’s interruption.
“The world didn’t understand the context and the events that led up to it. Because nothing ever just happens like that without some lead-up. Some events took place to cause me to be pissed off when [Kanye] called me a bitch,” the pop star explained. “That was not just a singular event. Basically, I got really sick of the dynamic between he and I. And that wasn’t just based on what happened on that phone call and with that song — it was kind of a chain reaction of things. I started to feel like we reconnected, which felt great for me — because all I ever wanted my whole career after that thing happened in 2009 was for him to respect me. When someone doesn’t respect you so loudly and says you literally don’t deserve to be here — I just so badly wanted that respect from him, and I hate that about myself.”
However, not all of Swift’s interview with Rolling Stone focused on feuds. The artist also opened up about her most recent album, Lover, which was released in August.
“I don’t think I’ve ever leaned into the old version of myself more creatively than I have on this album, where it’s very, very autobiographical,” Swift gushed. “But also moments of extreme catchiness and moments of extreme personal confession.”
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Scroll down to read 10 revelations from Swift’s Rolling Stone’s cover story.