Kim Kardashian claims Taylor Swift “gave the OK” for Kanye West’s “Famous” lyrics, contrary to an explanation from Swift’s rep in February that the “Blank Space” singer warned the rapper about releasing the song.
“[She] totally gave the OK. Rick Rubin was there. So many respected people in the music business heard that [conversation] and knew,” Kardashian said in a recent interview with GQ Magazine. “I don’t know why she just, you know, flipped all of a sudden.
“It was funny,” West’s wife continued, “because [on the call with Kanye, Taylor] said, ‘When I get on the Grammy red carpet, all the media is going to think that I’m so against this, and I’ll just laugh and say, ‘The joke’s on you, guys. I was in on it the whole time.’ And I’m like, wait, but [in] your Grammy speech, you completely dissed my husband just to play the victim again.”
“Famous” featured the notable lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? Because I made that bitch famous.”
Back in February, West said that the slur was actually meant as an “endearing term,” and Swift “gave her blessings,” but the pop star’s spokesperson has said otherwise.
“Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account,” Swift’s rep told Entertainment Weekly. “She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that bitch famous.'”
West took to Twitter to share his version of events.
“I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her,” he tweeted, adding that he “called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.”
“I’m not even gone take credit for the idea… it’s actually something Taylor came up with … She was having dinner with one of our friends who’s name I will keep out of this and she told him … I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous!” West wrote.
Swift made headlines when she addressed the situation without naming the rapper during her Grammys acceptance speech for Album of the Year.
“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, 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,” Swift said upon receiving her third trophy of the night. “But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people side track you, some day when you get where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there.”
In the GQ interview, Kardashian also said Swift sent a letter through her attorney saying, “Don’t ever let that footage come out of me saying that. Destroy it.”
While Swift’s rep didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment, GQ reached out to her spokesperson, who provided the following statement.
“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. 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. 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.
“Kanye West never told Taylor he was going to use the term ‘that bitch’ in referencing her. A song cannot be approved if it was never heard. Kanye West never played the song for Taylor Swift. Taylor heard it for the first time when everyone else did and was humiliated. Kim Kardashian‘s claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true, and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone.”
Here's Everyone Kanye West Disses on 'The Life of Pablo' (Photos)
Lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous. God damn, I made that bitch famous."
West claims that Taylor Swift owes her popularity to the infamous incident of him taking the mic from her at the 2009 MTV VMA's and shouting that Beyonce's video was better. West also claims Swift okay'd the lyric, which Swift refuted.
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Diss: PETA
Track: "Feedback (2)"
Lyric: “PETA’s mad 'cause I got a jacket outta possum."
West dissed PETA back in 2012 with the song "Theraflu," sparking a feud with the animal rights organization. They responded that the rapper makes "caveman costumes."
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Diss: The police
Track: "Feedback"
Lyric: “Hands up, we just doing what the cops taught us. Hands up, hands up, then the cops shot us.”
An obvious reference to protests against the police of Ferguson, MO. After teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot by police in August 2014, protesters adopted the mantra "Hands up, don't shoot!"
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Diss: Kanye's Dad
Track: "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2"
Lyric: “Up in the morning, miss you bad. Sorry I ain’t called you back, the same problem my father had.”
West's father divorced his mother when West was only three and stayed in Atlanta; West and his mother moved to Chicago.
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Diss: Ray J
Track: "Highlights"
Lyric: “I bet me and Ray would be friends. If we ain’t love the same bitch. Yeah, he might have hit it first. Only problem is I’m rich. 21 Grammys, superstar family. We the new Jackson, I’m all about that action.”
Ray J dated Kim Kardashian for a brief time in the early 2000s, long enough to make the infamous sex tape that launched Kim to fame. Ray J's career, meanwhile, has steadily gone in the other direction.
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Diss: Cousin
Track: "Real Friends"
Lyric: “I had a cousin that stole my laptop that I was fuckin’ bitches on. Paid that nigga 250 thousand just to get it from him.”
The whole song refers to people who pretend to be friendly with West in order to get something from him. The actual lyric refers to a cousin who extorted money from West after stealing his laptop, an incident that's also referenced in "No More Parties in L.A."
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Diss: Amber Rose (or Sumeke Rainey)
Track: "30 Hours"
Lyric: “My ex says she gave me the best years of her life. I saw a recent picture of her, I guess she was right.”
It's hard to pinpoint exactly which ex Kanye is referring to, but the internet has decided on Amber Rose as the most likely target since her and West's online sniping has lately reached an all-time high.
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Diss: Gossip site MediaTakeOut
Track: "30 Hours (2)"
Lyric: “I wake up, assessin’ the damages. Checkin’ MediaTakeOut. Picture of me drunk walkin’ out with a bitch. But it’s blurry enough to get the fake out.”
West has previously lambasted the gossip site on Twitter, recently typing "Now - Media TakeOut - always remember that you dissed the collection that changed the world."
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Diss: Monica Lewinsky
Track: "No More Parties in LA"
Lyric: “Any rumor you heard about me was true and legendary, I done got Lewinsky and paid secretaries.”
Maybe less of a diss than a casualty, as West has no problem throwing out Lewinsky's name to refer to a blow job.
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Diss: Nike
Track: "Facts"
Lyrics: “Yeezy just jumped over Jumpman.”
“If Nike didn’t have Drizzy [rapper Drake], man they would have nothing.”
“Nike out here bad, they can’t give shit away.”
“Nike, Nike treat employees just like slaves."
"Gave LeBron a bill not to run away.”
After splitting with Nike over money disputes and signing with Adidas, Kanye is now saying that the classic Air Jordans can only compete with his new Yeezy line by using superstars Drake and LeBron James.
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The rapper unleashed a torrent of trash talk on his latest album; here are all of his targets
Lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous. God damn, I made that bitch famous."
West claims that Taylor Swift owes her popularity to the infamous incident of him taking the mic from her at the 2009 MTV VMA's and shouting that Beyonce's video was better. West also claims Swift okay'd the lyric, which Swift refuted.