Sabrina Carpenter Shares Taylor Swift’s Reaction To Her SKIMS Campaign

Sabrina Carpenter can be friendly with both Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian, thank you very much. In a new interview on June 17, Carpenter addressed the public backlash she received for starring in a Spring 2024 ad campaign for Kardashian’s shapewear brand SKIMS, given her friend Swift’s fraught history with the reality star.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Carpenter revealed that she had talked to Swift about working with Kardashian, and her decision to pose for the SKIMS campaign did not cause any issue in their friendship. However, she didn’t realize how much criticism she would get for it.

“As much as people want to believe you’re tuned into every little thing, I’m not because I’m constantly working,” she said. “I’ve been very, very communicative with her about that situation, and I just love her so much and support her till the end. So it was no weirdness for me, but I know people will just say things because that’s all they have time to do.”

While Carpenter didn’t comment on Kardashian directly, the mogul only had nice things to say about her. “Sabrina is not only a very talented musician, but she also has a fashion sense and an ‘it' factor that really resonates with the next generation,” she said in an April press release.

Sabrina & Taylor’s Friendship

The “Espresso” singer is a longtime Swiftie, as proven by a viral video of a 9-year-old Carpenter covering Swift’s 2006 hit “Picture to Burn.” However, Carpenter’s idol became her friend after she opened for the Eras Tour shows in Latin America, Australia, and Singapore.

During that time, Carpenter was even a witness to the creation process of Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department. “She always puts out music at a time where I didn’t realize I needed those songs,” she told RS. “We’re very verbal with each other about our mutual love and admiration.… She played me ‘But Daddy I Love Him’ before it came out, and that’s also one of my favorites.”

However, Carpenter is careful not to draw comparisons. “I hold her to such a different echelon,” she said. “I could never compare my life, my career, my trajectory to anything close to what she’s done.”

Taylor & Kim’s History

Swift and Kardashian’s story began in February 2016, when the singer criticized Kardashian’s then-husband Kanye West for saying that he made her “famous” (referring to the 2009 VMAs debacle) in his song “Famous.” Months later, Kardashian shared a recording of a phone call between Swift and West in which she agreed to him using the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.”

The clips made it appear that Swift had lied about disapproving West’s lyrics, and she received enormous backlash. When the full phone call leaked in 2020, it proved that West, in fact, did not share the line “I made that bitch famous” with her.

Swift has called that period one of the hardest times in her life, inspiring songs on Reputation. She seems to have turned a new leaf, as indicated by “thanK you aIMee” on Tortured Poets, in which she thanks Kardashian for making her the woman she is today while still objecting to her actions.