Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian: Feud timeline explored

Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift (via Getty)
Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift (Image via Getty)

Taylor Swift has had her share of controversies and public feuds with celebrities. However, no discourse is more prominent than the infamous Taylor-Kanye/Kim battle that has been going on for over fifteen years.

Taylor's relationship with Kim Kardashian has endured several ups and downs. Kanye's ex-wife got involved in the Taylor-Kanye battle after the feud peaked in 2016 when Ye released the infamous Famous song. Kim claimed that Taylor knew and approved the controversial lyrics before the song's release.

To prove her point, Kim Kardashian also released a clip of a call between Kanye and Taylor in which Taylor allegedly greenlit the lyrics calling her expletives. Since that day, the feud between the two has only intensified and continues to bubble over even today.


Timeline of Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian explained

Here is a detailed timeline of Taylor Swift's topsy-turvy relationship with Kim Kardashian over the years:


June 16, 2016: Kim Kardashian alleges that Taylor Swift knew about Famous' controversial lyrics pre-release

Balenciaga : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Balenciaga : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

In February 2016, Kanye West released Famous, which contains controversial lyrics about Taylor and calls her expletives.

Kim Kardashian entered the Taylor-Kanye fight in June when she claimed 'she [Taylor] totally approved that [Famous]' in the July issue of GQ.

"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--t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved," added Kim Kardashian.

June 2016: Taylor Swift's spokesperson releases a statement after Kim's comments

Taylor Swift was quick to bounce back with a statement from her publicist, Tree Paine, after Kim Kardashian's comments.

"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 said about Kim Kardashian.

The press release went on to explain that Taylor and Kanye had spoken only once when Taylor was vacationing with her family in January 2016 and hadn't spoken after that. In that phone call, Kanye West had asked her to release Famous on her Twitter account, which she had denied.


July 17, 2016: Kim Kardashian explains why she took Kanye West's side

2022 LACMA ART+FILM GALA Presented By Gucci - Red Carpet (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for LACMA)
2022 LACMA ART+FILM GALA Presented By Gucci - Red Carpet (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for LACMA)

The Kardashian family discussed the Taylor-Kanye fiasco in a July 2016 Keeping Up With the Kardashians episode.

In the episode, Kanye's ex-wife explained that she rarely badmouths people, but felt the need to speak out as Kim wanted to defend her (now ex) husband.

"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.”

After the episode, Kim's mother, Kris Jenner, implored her to patch things up with Taylor over the phone. However, the TV star politely declined.


July 17, 2016: Kim Kardashian releases footage of Kanye's call with Taylor

On July 17, Kim Kardashian released a series of recorded clips of a phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift. Both could be heard discussing the lyrics of Famous and their past beef.

Taylor could be heard referring to Kanye's lyrics as "a compliment".

I never would've expected you to like tell me about a line in your song," Swift added "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."

The conversation ended with Taylor saying, '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.'''

The Snapchat clip went viral on the internet, and Taylor Swift's PR rep was quick to respond. They said, "Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyrics, 'I made that [expletive] famous.'"


July 17, 2016: Taylor Swift calls Kim Kardashian's leak as "character assassination"

Taylor Swift 'Reputation' Stadium Tour - Sydney (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Taylor Swift 'Reputation' Stadium Tour - Sydney (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Taylor Swift quickly defended herself in an online note and confided that she never approved of being called an expletive in Kanye's song.

"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... 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," the 'Blank Space' singer wrote in her note.
Tweet from July 27, 2016 (via X)
Tweet from July 27, 2016 (via X)

The singer captioned her note, "That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet."


January 14, 2019: Kim Kardashian claims that she was "over it" with Taylor Swift

In January 2019, Kim appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and was asked about her feud with Taylor Swift.

Kim explained that she was "over it" and felt like both parties had "moved on." Later, she also confessed that she'd rather be stuck in an elevator with Taylor Swift than Drake, another big name with a complicated past with Ye.


March 2019: Taylor Swift alleges that Kim and Kanye hadn't apologized to her

In an interview for Elle, Tayor Swift discussed bullying in general and alluded to her on-and-off beef with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. She wrote:

"I learned that disarming someone's petty bullying can be as simple as learning to laugh. 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."

The 14-time Grammy winner ended the interview by saying, 'It would be nice if we could get an apology from people who bully us."


March 24, 2020: Kim Kardashian responds to the full phone call leaks between Ye and Swift

On March 20, 2020, the full and extended version of Taylor and Kanye's phone call was leaked online. A few days later, Kim Kardashian liked a tweet that stated, The video showed nothing new. We all knew that. I'm so confused right now,"

In late March, she returned to Twitter and discussed Swift's remarks on the video leaks. In her tweets, she stated:

"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 [expletive] was used without her permission."

Taylor Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, responded to the tweet with the following tweet:

Tweet from March 24, 2020 (via X)
Tweet from March 24, 2020 (via X)

December 7, 2023: Taylor Swift describes the Taylor-Kimye feud as 'career death'

After winning TIME's 2023 Person of the Year award, Taylor Swift appeared in an interview in which she discussed her personal life, romantic relationships, and, most importantly, her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

The 14-time Grammy winner described the fiasco as "career death" and talked about how the beef affected her psychologically.

“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,” the singer/songwriter continued.

Taylor Swift added"

“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”

Taylor Swift's feud with Kim and Kanye seems to have mellowed down a little, but there might be many more chapters to unfold in the neverending saga of three of the biggest names in the industry.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay
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