It pretty much goes without saying that Kanye West and Taylor Swift have a “complex” history, to say the least. The situation started in earnest well over a decade ago with that infamous moment from the VMAs and, years later, more drama ensued between them as well as West’s former wife, Kim Kardashian. While the supposed “feud” between him and Swift seemed to subside after a while, sparks might be flying again. It was alleged days ago that the songstress had the hip hop star “kicked out” of Super Bowl LVIII this past weekend. And, on the heels of that, we’re going to give you a rundown of how West seemed to restart his feud with her afterwards. But, first, let’s start from the beginning.
Why Don’t Taylor Swift And Ye Get Along?
Back in 2009, Taylor Swift won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video for her hit song “You Belong With Me.” As she gave her speech at the ceremony, Kanye West jumped on stage and interrupted. He addressed Swift, saying “Taylor, I’m really happy for you” and “I’ma let you finish” before declaring that “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” (That video in question was for “Single Ladies.”) From that point on, the relationship between the two artists seemingly became strained.
Additional drama cropped up in 2016 due to Ye’s single, “Famous,” from his album The Life of Pablo. Among the lyrics was the line, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous,” upsetting Swifties. It was eventually reported that the fashion mogul received approval on the lyrics beforehand via a phone call with the pop star. The “Willow” singer, however, later suggested that wasn’t the case when she shaded the rapper while accepting the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2016.
Kim Kardashian became involved in the West/Swift drama after she released clips from the phone call that seemingly suggested Swift lied about not giving the thumbs up. However, the complete call leaked in 2020 and seemed to prove that she was telling the truth.
Since then, the two have rarely spoken about the controversies that link them. Though Taylor Swift did recall the Kim Kardashian situation during an interview that took place in 2023. She also made a rare nod at her feud with Kanye West at the end of that same year while performing at the Eras Tour. In some ways, it would seem that the two still have “bad blood,” but I’m not sure anyone saw this Super Bowl situation coming.
What Supposedly Happened With Kanye West And Taylor Swift At The Super Bowl, And How Did The Rapper Respond?
The “Shake It Off” performer was among the many celebrities to present at Allegiant Stadium in Nevada for Super Bowl LVIII. There, she rooted for her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (and even went viral for chugging a beer). It was subsequently claimed, however, that Ye was also present and that she had him removed from the location. The allegation came from former NFL Player Brandon Marshall on his Paper Route podcast. He said the following in a clip from the show that was shared to X:
Kanye West pulls up to Vegas. Kanye West buys a ticket right in front of [Taylor Swift’s] booth. So, any time they were going to be showing [Taylor Swift], Kanye’s face was going to be there. … He had a mask on with his logo on the mask, right? Typical Kanye. Taylor Swift gets pissed off. She – boom boom – makes a call or two. Everybody’s involved. [Ye] gets kicked out the stadium. … He was trying to leverage her celebrity…
Since the former Denver Bronco made those claims, a representative for the Grammy winner himself has responded. According to the rep, who released a statement that was shared with Forbes, the rapper was not ousted from the packed arena:
This is a completely fabricated rumor. It is not true.
Aside from this message, Ye himself has not taken to the interwebs to share more details on his account of the matter. However, it would seem that he is stirring the pot in another regard. Based on a social media post he recently shared, he may have just reignited his “feud” with the Reputation producer.
What Did Kanye West Say On Social Media In The Aftermath Of The Super Bowl Brouhaha?
Ye’s social media habits can be unpredictable, to say the least. Just recently, he even scrubbed his Instagram account again amid questions about the racy photos he shares of his wife, Bianca Censori. Aside from all that, many surely took notice when he dropped a story post featuring a headline with a Spotify metric. Apparently, the “Jesus Walks” performer has now topped the “Look What You Made Me Do” singer as the top artist on the platform globally. You can check out his post for yourself down below:
As of this writing, it would appear that Taylor Swift has not responded to the message. On the surface, this may not seem like a total declaration of war. (We have, after all, seen Kanye West actually declare “civil war” on Pete Davidson.) Nevertheless, it’s very interesting that such a post would go up at this time, given the claim related to the Super Bowl. Only time will tell whether anything else arises as a result of this message.
At present though, both artists seem to still be marching to the beats of their own respective drums. Kanye West recently saw the release of his new album, Vultures, which he curated with Ty Dolla Sign. However, the compilation has stoked up controversy, as Ozzy Osbourne slammed him for apparently sampling his music without permission. West is also taking heat for a post-Super Bowl listening party is also taking heat due to the massive ticket prices, which were drastically reduced later in the night and left fans upset.
As for Taylor Swift, she’s coming off a massive year which involved her highly lucrative Eras Tour. She also topped it off with the accompanying movie of the same name, which proved to be a hit at the box office. Right now, she’s set to drop her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, this coming April. She’s definitely going to be busy in the coming months and, all the while, some may keep watching to see if she chooses to fire back at Ye in any way.
