Take a look back at the drama between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian through the years

Over the years, Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift have had many highs and lows. 

Swift and Kanye West have a lengthy history together, and in 2015, after Swift and West publicly reconciled—and then unreconciled again—Kieran became involved in the drama.

When Kanye West released “Famous” from his album “The Life of Pablo,” mocking the “Style” vocalist, in 2016, the tension reached a breaking point. Kardashian released an edited phone conversation between West and Swift that was conducted before to the song’s official release, thereby substantiating her claim that Swift knew West’s intention to release the song. The reality star’s supporters gained traction on the internet very soon, with the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty becoming popular.

Swift addressed the controversy the next year with her sixth studio album Reputation, which featured a lot of snake imagery and her reclamation of the snake emoji that had been placed in the comments area of her Instagram post at the time. 

Swift recently discussed her feud with TIME after being named the magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year. She noted that the public’s response felt like “a career death” and “took [her] down psychologically to a place [she’d] never been before,” as she gets ready to release the re-recorded version of Reputation. 

See below for a look back at Swift and Kardashian’s relationship over the years, along with their comments regarding the turmoil. 

2009: Taylor Swift is said to be loved by Kim Kardashian. 

When Kardashian chatted with Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet in 2009, they asked her what song was the top hit on her iPod at the time. She excitedly retorted that it was Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” then exclaimed, “I adore Taylor Swift! I’m a huge fan of Taylor Swift. 

She said that she was following her on Twitter and then said, “Taylor, I’m watching you!” 

Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift posing together at the MTV EMAs on November 11, 2012.

One of the couple’s initial public encounters occurred in 2012 when they posed for pictures with Rita Ora at the MTV EMAs. 

Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift embrace at the Grammy Awards on February 8, 2015. 

Swift was spotted becoming friendly with Kardashian in the crowd as she and West made up after their protracted argument. Following her photo op with JAY-Z and West, she was spotted hugging Kardashian.  

Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift seated together during the MTV VMAs, August 30, 2015.

In August 2015, Swift and West publicly buried the hatchet as the singer presented the rapper with the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs. After giving a speech about West on stage, she was seen with her arms wrapped around Kardashian as they smiled at West on stage. 

However, the friendship was short-lived as the following February, West released his song “Famous” featuring a dig at Swift, saying he “made that bitch famous.” Swift publicly reacted to the lyric during her Grammys acceptance speech for album of the year. 

“I want to say to all the young women out there, 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 on stage. “If you just focus on the work, and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world. Thank you for this moment.”

June 16, 2016: Kim Kardashian claims Taylor Swift knew of the infamous Kanye West “Famous” lyric all along 

“She totally approved that,” Kardashian said in the July issue of GQ that year regarding Swift’s knowledge of the lyrics of “Famous” before the song’s release.

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

June 2016: Taylor Swift’s spokesperson releases a statement following Kim Kardashian’s claims about Kanye West’s “Famous” 

The vocalist of “Bad Blood” released a statement shortly after the incident. The statement about Kardashian began, “Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West.”

That does not, however, alter the fact that a large portion of what Kim is stating is false. The statement went on, “Taylor and Kanye West haven’t communicated since their one phone conversation in January 2016 while she was on vacation with her family. Taylor has never refuted the existence of the exchange. She was asked to release the music on her Twitter account during that phone chat by Kanye West, but she turned him down.

Kim Kardashian explains why she stood up for Kanye West against Taylor Swift on July 17, 2016.

The Kardashian family went into great depth about the long-running dispute between West and Swift in a July 2016 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. They also talked about West’s contentious outburst during his Saturday Night Live appearance, in which he was caught on camera calling Swift fake.

She clarified that she felt compelled to speak up during her GQ interview. “I never trash talk anybody in public, especially when doing interviews. But I wanted to defend him in it because I was just like, I had so had it,” she remarked. 

Kardashian and momager Kris Jenner had a conversation about the contentious interview at the end of the show. Jenner attempted to mediate the situation by posing the question, “What would happen if you just called Taylor and said, ‘What happened?'” What went wrong so badly?I suppose I don’t understand why she decided to flip; perhaps she misinterpreted it. I would suggest giving Taylor Swift a call.

Kardashian said to her mother, “I appreciate your wonderful advice, but I’m not going to take it.”

July 17, 2016: Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s phone conversation is captured on camera by Kim Kardashian.

Kardashian took to Snapchat immediately after that episode of KUWTK to post a series of shortened videos of her then-husband West and Swift talking about their past and the song “Famous.”

After West reads her the lyrics, which include “For all my Southside n—– that know me best / I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” Swift is heard remarking in the video, “It’s like a compliment.”

After Swift informed him she appreciated the “heads up” on the lyrics, West stated, “What I give a f— is you as a person, and as a friend, I want things that make you feel good.” He then praised Swift “for being like, so cool about it.”

Swift remarked, “I never would’ve expected you to like tell me about a line in your song.” You have to recount the tale the way it happened to you and how you experienced it; otherwise, I don’t think anyone would listen to it and think, “Oh, that’s a real diss.”

“Look, I think it would be great for me to be like, ‘He called me and told me before it came out. Joke’s on you, guys,” she continued. We’re alright.

“Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyrics, ‘I made that bitch famous,'” Swift’s representative told PEOPLE shortly after.

The reality star was swiftly backed by the Internet, as evidenced by the trending hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty.

July 17, 2016: Following Kim Kardashian’s release of Kanye West phone call footage, Taylor Swift defends herself

Swift swiftly defended herself online, pointing out that there was no evidence of West telling Swift over the phone that he was going to call her “that bitch.” She stated in a note, “You don’t get to dictate someone’s emotional response to being branded ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world.

Naturally, I wanted to enjoy the song. When Kanye assured me that I would adore the song, I wanted to trust him. I wanted our relationship to be cordial. He never followed through on his commitment to play the music for me. Even though I wanted to call Kanye to express my support, you cannot “approve” a song that you haven’t listened to. It is character assassination to be wrongly accused of lying when I was never told the whole narrative or heard any portion of the music.

Swift went on, “I have never asked to be a part of this narrative, and I would very much like to be excluded from it,” “That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet,” was the description she wrote for the photo.

August 27, 2017: In the music video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” Taylor Swift alludes to the conflict involving Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. 

Swift revealed the release of her sixth studio album, Reputation, over a year after Kardashian posted the covertly recorded phone call between her then-husband West and Swift on her Snapchat account. Swift used a string of enigmatic Instagram videos featuring a serpent to tease the news. This seemed to be her attempt to take back the snake emoji that she had used in her Instagram comments, which suggested she was lying.

Swift included multiple Easter eggs that alluded to the drama in the music video for the lead track, “Look What You Made Me Do.” She was covered in images of snakes, and on her chair was the line “Et tu, Brute” from Julius Caesar, a play by William Shakespeare, which alludes to West stabbing her in the back. 

She made more allusions to the drama at the end of the video when she showed a row of various “versions of herself,” one of whom was constantly recording films on her phone and remarking, “I’m going to edit this later.” 

January 14, 2019: Kim Kardashian asserts that she and Taylor Swift no longer have “Bad Blood.”

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in January 2019, Kardashian addressed the matter during the program’s “Squash That Beef!” segment. She declared that she was “over it” when asked if her battle with Swift over the exposed phone conversations was still going on.

Regarding the conflict between them, Kardashian continued, “I feel like we’d all moved on.” She went on to say later in the program that she would prefer be stranded in an elevator with Swift than Drake, another celebrity who has a contentious past with West.

Taylor Swift suggests in March 2019 that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West still owe her an apology. 

Taylor Swift’s 2018 Stadium Tour reputation

Swift discussed how she overcame bullies and hinted at her tumultuous connection with West and Kardashian in an open interview for Elle’s cover story.

Swift stated in Elle that “I learned that disarming someone’s petty bullying can be as simple as learning to laugh.” Based on my observations, it appears that bullies desire to be viewed with fear and with gravity. I was called a snake on the internet a few years ago, which sparked a hate campaign.

“Every time my 63-foot inflatable cobra named Karyn appeared onstage in front of 60,000 screaming fans, I can’t tell you how hard I had to suppress my laughter,” she wrote. “It’s the Stadium Tour version of saying ‘lol’ in response to a hateful Instagram comment from a troll.”

Swift went on, “Maybe all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive it, and thrive in spite of it. It would be nice if people who bully us could apologize.”

March 20, 2020: Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s entire phone conversation appears online.

Extended segments of the lengthy chat between West and Swift about his “Famous” lyrics were released online late on March 20, 2020, four years after Kardashian shared the edited phone call.

Twitter users have shared clips of the rapper pleading with Swift to share his new song on her platform. “I’m phoning you because I wanted you to tweet my upcoming single. Over the phone, he tells the Grammy winner, “I wanted you to release the song.”

After telling Swift he included a “very controversial line” about her in the song, the pop star appeared to be nervous as she asks West what the lyrics are. A seemingly wary Swift asks if it’s “gonna be mean,” and West acknowledges even then-wife Kardashian initially felt it was “too crazy” but had come around. He remarks, “It’s like my wife’s favorite f—ing line.”

“So it says, ‘To all my Southside n—– that know me best/ I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex,” continues West with a chuckle. Swift laughs and says, “That’s not mean.”

Further discussing his proposal to have her release the song, Swift — who expresses relief that the lyrics aren’t about her being “that stupid dumb bitch” — tells West she needs to “think about it because it is absolutely crazy.”

“I’m going to send you the song and send you the exact wording and everything about it, right? And then we could sit and talk through it,” West tells Swift, who has long contended she never heard the song before its release, at the end of the call.

Days later, Kardashian liked a tweet referencing the leak, stating, “The video showed nothing new. We all knew that. I’m so confused right now,” reads the tweet.

March 23, 2020: Taylor Swift responds to the leak of her full phone call with Kanye West

Swift posted a message on Instagram Stories on March 23 that referenced the leaked call and said, “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.”

“The World Health Organization and Feeding America are some of the organizations I’ve been donating to. If you have the ability to, please join me in donating during this crisis,” continued Swift, directing fans to organizations that are in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

March 24, 2020: Kim Kardashian responds to the leak of the full phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift

That same evening in late March, Kardashian returned to Twitter — albeit “embarrassed” to do so — to clap back at Swift’s remarks.

“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,” tweeted Kardashian.

Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, who never denied the existence of the phone call in her statements, replied this time, re-sharing her very first statement on the matter, and asking, “P.S. who did you guys piss off to leak that video?”

December 16, 2021: Kim Kardashian says she likes all of Taylor Swift’s songs

During an interview on the Honestly podcast with host Bari Weiss, Kardashian was asked about Swift during a lightning question round. When asked what her favorite Swift album was, Kardashian responded, “I really like a lot of her songs. They’re all super cute and catchy. I’d have to look in my phone to get a name [of an album].” 

October 22, 2023: Kim Kardashian reshares a Taylor Swift song on her Instagram Story 

As Kardashian celebrated her birthday in 2023, she donned a flowing purple dress which fans immediately drew parallels to Swift’s Speak Now album cover. Following a flood of comments asking if she was entering her Speak Now era, the reality star raised eyebrows as she reposted a birthday tribute from her friend Liz Woods, which featured Swift’s “Speak Now” song. 

December 7, 2023: Taylor Swift says Kanye West and Kim Kardashian feud felt like ‘career death’ 

As Swift was named TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year, the singer opened up about a variety of topics ranging from her romantic relationships to her past feuds in her cover story. In particular, she recalled the leaked phone call between her and West, that the moment and the public’s reaction felt like “a career death” and “took [her] down psychologically to a place [she’d] never been before.”A spokesperson for the “Bad Blood” singer was quick to comment on the matter. “Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West,” the statement about Kardashian started off.

“However, that does not change the fact that much of what Kim is saying is incorrect. Kanye West and Taylor only spoke once on the phone while she was on vacation with her family in January of 2016 and they have never spoken since,” the statement continued. “Taylor has never denied that conversation took place. It was on that phone call that Kanye West also asked her to release the song on her Twitter account, which she declined to do.”

July 17, 2016: Kim Kardashian explains why she defended Kanye West against Taylor Swift

On a July 2016 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the family discussed the longstanding feud between West and Swift in great detail, as well as West’s controversial rant during his appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he was recorded backstage calling Swift fake.

She explained that when she did her GQ interview, she felt the need to speak out. “I never talk s— about anyone publicly, especially in interviews. But I was just like, I had so had it,” she said “I wanted to defend him in it.” 

At the end of the episode, Kardashian sat down with momager Kris Jenner to discuss the controversial interview. Jenner tried to play peacemaker, asking, “What would happen if you just called Taylor up and say ‘What happened? How did this go so south?’ I guess I don’t understand the motivation to flip … maybe she took it the wrong way. My advice would be to give Taylor Swift a call.”

“Thank you for your lovely advice,” Kardashian told her mother, “but I’m not going to take it.”

July 17, 2016: Kim Kardashian releases video footage of Kanye West’s phone call with Taylor Swift

Immediately following that episode of KUWTK, Kardashian took to Snapchat to share a series of truncated videos of the phone call between her then-husband West and Swift, discussing the “Famous” lyrics – as well as their history.

“It’s like a compliment,” Swift is heard saying in the video after West reads the lyrics to her (which include, “For all my Southside n—– that know me best / I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex”).

“What I give a f— is you as a person, and as a friend, I want things that make you feel good,” West said, and thanked Swift “for being like, so cool about it” after she told him she appreciates the “heads up” on the lyrics.

“I never would’ve expected you to like tell me about a line in your song,” Swift said. “I mean, I don’t think anybody would listen to that and be like, ‘Oh, that’s a real diss.’ You gotta tell the story that way that it happened to you and the way you experienced it.”

She went on to add, “If people ask me about it, look, I think it would be great for me to be like, ‘He called me and told me before it came out … Joke’s on you, guys. We’re fine.’ “

Shortly after, Swift’s rep told PEOPLE, “Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyrics, ‘I made that bitch famous.’”

The Internet immediately seemed to side with the reality star, and #KimExposedTaylorParty started trending.

July 17, 2016: Taylor Swift defends herself after Kim Kardashian releases Kanye West phone call footage

Swift quickly defended herself online, noting how the phone call never showed West telling Swift he was going to call her “that bitch.” “It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world,” she wrote in a note.

“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. 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.”

“I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009,” Swift continued. She captioned the post, “That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet.”

August 27, 2017: Taylor Swift references Kanye West and Kim Kardashian drama in “Look What You Made Me Do” music video 

Almost a year after Kardashian shared the secretly recorded phone call on her Snapchat between her then-husband West and Swift, Swift announced the release of her sixth studio album, Reputation. Swift teased the news with a series of mysterious Instagram videos depicting a serpent. This appeared to be her way of reclaiming the snake emoji posted in her Instagram comments section (implying that she was a liar).

In the music video for the song’s lead single “Look What You Made Me Do,” Swift referenced the drama with various Easter eggs throughout the video. In addition to having various snake imagery throughout, she also had the quote “Et tu, Brute” from William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar written on her chair as a reference to West stabbing her in the back. 

At the end of the video, she further referenced the drama as several different “versions of herself” lined up in a row, including one that kept taking videos on her phone, saying, “I’m going to edit this later.” 

January 14, 2019: Kim Kardashian claims there’s no more “Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift

In January 2019, Kardashian cleared the air during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, during the show’s “Squash That Beef!” segment. When asked about if her feud with Swift over the leaked phone calls was still ongoing, she said she was “over it.”

“I feel like we’d all moved on,” Kardashian added of the tension between them. Later in the show, she also added that she’d rather be stuck in an elevator with Swift than Drake — another star who’s had a complicated history with West.

March 2019: Taylor Swift insinuates that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West still haven’t apologized to her 

Taylor Swift 2018 reputation Stadium Tour

In a candid cover story interview with Elle, Swift alluded to her rocky relationship with West and Kardashian and spoke about how she learned to triumph over bullies.

“I learned that disarming someone’s petty bullying can be as simple as learning to laugh,” Swift wrote in Elle. “In my experience, I’ve come to see that bullies want to be feared and taken seriously. A few years ago, someone started an online hate campaign by calling me a snake on the internet.”

“I can’t tell you how hard I had to keep from laughing every time my 63-foot inflatable cobra named Karyn appeared onstage in front of 60,000 screaming fans,” she wrote. “It’s the Stadium Tour equivalent of responding to a troll’s hateful Instagram comment with ‘lol.’”

“It would be nice if we could get an apology from people who bully us,” Swift continued, “but maybe all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive it, and thrive in spite of it.”

March 20, 2020: The full phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift leaks online

Four years after Kardashian shared the edited phone call between West and Swift discussing his “Famous” lyrics, extended portions of the lengthy conversation were leaked online late on March 20, 2020.

In clips posted to Twitter, the rapper is heard asking Swift to release his new song on her Twitter account. “So my next single, I wanted you to tweet it … so that’s why I’m calling you. I wanted you to put the song out,” he tells the Grammy winner on the phone.

After telling Swift he included a “very controversial line” about her in the song, the pop star appeared to be nervous as she asks West what the lyrics are. A seemingly wary Swift asks if it’s “gonna be mean,” and West acknowledges even then-wife Kardashian initially felt it was “too crazy” but had come around. “It’s like my wife’s favorite f—ing line,” he says.

“So it says, ‘To all my Southside n—– that know me best/ I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex,” continues West with a chuckle. Responds Swift with a laugh: “That’s not mean.”

Further discussing his proposal to have her release the song, Swift — who expresses relief that the lyrics aren’t about her being “that stupid dumb bitch” — tells West she needs to “think about it because it is absolutely crazy.”

“I’m going to send you the song and send you the exact wording and everything about it, right? And then we could sit and talk through it,” West tells Swift, who has long contended she never heard the song before its release, at the end of the call.

Days later, Kardashian liked a tweet referencing the leak, stating, “The video showed nothing new. We all knew that. I’m so confused right now,” reads the tweet.

March 23, 2020: Taylor Swift responds to the leak of her full phone call with Kanye West

“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,” wrote Swift on Instagram Stories on March 23, referencing the leaked call.

“The World Health Organization and Feeding America are some of the organizations I’ve been donating to. If you have the ability to, please join me in donating during this crisis,” continued Swift, directing fans to organizations that are in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

March 24, 2020: Kim Kardashian responds to the leak of the full phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift

That same evening in late March, Kardashian returned to Twitter — albeit “embarrassed” to do so — to clap back at Swift’s remarks.

“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,” tweeted Kardashian.

Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, who never denied the existence of the phone call in her statements, replied this time, re-sharing her very first statement on the matter, and asking, “P.S. who did you guys piss off to leak that video?”

December 16, 2021: Kim Kardashian says she likes all of Taylor Swift’s songs

During an interview on the Honestly podcast with host Bari Weiss, Kardashian was asked about Swift during a lightning question round. When asked what her favorite Swift album was, Kardashian responded, “I really like a lot of her songs. They’re all super cute and catchy. I’d have to look in my phone to get a name [of an album].” 

October 22, 2023: Kim Kardashian reshares a Taylor Swift song on her Instagram Story 

As Kardashian celebrated her birthday in 2023, she donned a flowing purple dress which fans immediately drew parallels to Swift’s Speak Now album cover. Following a flood of comments asking if she was entering her Speak Now era, the reality star raised eyebrows as she reposted a birthday tribute from her friend Liz Woods, which featured Swift’s “Speak Now” song. 

December 7, 2023: Taylor Swift says Kanye West and Kim Kardashian feud felt like ‘career death’ 

As Swift was named TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year, the singer opened up about a variety of topics ranging from her romantic relationships to her past feuds in her cover story. In particular, she recalled the leaked phone call between her and West, that the moment and the public’s reaction felt like “a career death” and “took [her] down psychologically to a place [she’d] never been before.”

“Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” the “Cruel Summer” singer said.

“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. 

“That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before,” the Grammy winner continued. “I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”