Remember in February when Kanye West released The Life of Pablo? I mean, how could anyone forget? Especially since the album included a diss directed at Taylor Swift. In the track "Famous," he says, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that b*tch famous." Understandably such lyrics stirred up controversy, but the drama seemingly fizzled out — until now. In the July issue of GQ, Kim Kardashian sheds light on the Swift and West situation, and in doing so, changes everything you thought you knew.
When the track was released, Swift and her squad were seemingly outraged. Her brother even posted a video of himself throwing out his Yeezy shoes. Meanwhile, West posted a series of tweets claiming he called Swift and got her blessing on the lyrics. (Swift's rep denied this.) But Kardashian claims that her husband's story is the correct one. She told GQ,
[Swift] totally approved that. 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 sh*t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved. What rapper would call a girl that he was rapping a line about to get approval?
As she said those comments, the GQ writer, Caity Weaver, noted Kardashian was "shaking her head in annoyance" and "speaking faster and more animatedly than at any other point during our time together."
But wait, there's more! Kardashian claimed the convo between Swift and West was filmed (because apparently he always films his time in the studio for a potential future documentary), but Kardashian also claims Swift's attorney sent a letter asking that the footage of their phone call be destroyed:
So many respected people in the music business heard that [conversation] and knew. I mean, he's called me a b*tch in his songs. That's just, like, what they say. I never once think, [gasping] "What a derogatory word! How dare he?" Not in a million years... It was funny 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.
OK, it's hard to know whether Swift went back on her word, but I'm going to have to disagree about the word "b*tch" not being derogatory. Sure, in society some people have reclaimed words (just look at the SlutWalk), but it's not the same if someone else calls you those hurtful words. Maybe West just meant it as a way to describe a woman, but if that's how you describe women, that's problematic in itself. I also wouldn't classify it as "playing the victim," if Swift was genuinely offended. Still, it is interesting that Kardashian is so adamant in her claim that Swift was aware beforehand.
Honestly, it's impossible to know what to make of this all. West's team claimed to GQ that they received a letter from Swift's team asking the footage of their phone call be deleted. Swift's team claims a phone call did take place, but Swift didn't know the lyric would be "that b*tch." Swift's rep gave GQ 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 b*tch’ 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
In case your head is spinning, here's the TL;DR version: Kardashian backed up her husband's claim that Swift approved the (demeaning) lyrics about herself. Kim K claims the phone call was taped — a tape that, allegedly, Swift's team wanted destroyed. Meanwhile, Swift's team claims they never knew the lyrics beforehand and didn't ask for any footage to be destroyed.
All I know for sure now is that I know nothing for sure.
