Taylor Swift has stirred up some serious bad blood with the release of her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, taking aim at multiple exes, including Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, while also reigniting her explosive feud with Kim Kardashian.
The singer, 34, officially dropped The Tortured Poets Department – her 11th studio album – on Friday, leaving fans scrambling to unravel the many pointed references to various romantic partners hidden within the lyrics of her songs.
But while Taylor made several digs at the likes of Joe and Matty, her former boyfriends were not the only people to find themselves at the pointy end of the singer’s razor-tongued attacks.
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Reality star Kim was also among the targets of the album, with listeners calling out not one, but two ‘diss tracks’ in which Taylor appears to reference her bitter feud with the reality star, as well as her ex-husband Kanye West.
Taylor’s album was officially released at midnight ET (2am UK time), but just two hours later, she revealed on social media that there was a ‘second installment’, titled The Anthology, having sparked a flurry of speculation that a shock reveal was coming when she shared a countdown clock on social media.
Among the tracks included in that second release is a song titled thanK you aIMee, which fans are now convinced is aimed specifically at Kim, 43, noting that the letters K, I, and M are capped up in the title of the 24th track.
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Taylor Swift has reignited her explosive feud with Kim Kardashian by releasing a diss track aimed at the reality star
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Fans are convinced one of the 31 tracks – thaK you aIMee – is aimed at Kim, as the letter K,I and M are capped up to spell out her name
The song, which was released on the surprise ‘double’ version of The Tortured Poets Department, takes aim at a person named ‘Aimee’, who fans are convinced is actually Kim
A second track, titled Cassandra, is also being called out for its apparent references to Taylor’s feud with both Kim and her ex-husband Kanye West
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Taylor’s exes Joe Alwyn (left) and Matty Healy (right) also found themselves at the center of furious speculation over supposed digs the singer made at both of them in her songs
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Fans also called out another song called Cassandra, which makes several references to ‘snakes’; the snake emoji has played a major role in the ongoing feud between Taylor and Kim, as well as the reality star’s ex-husband Kanye West, leading many to believe that the track is yet another subtle jab.
Meanwhile thanK you aIMee centers on Taylor’s apparent dislike for a mean school girl she refers to as ‘Aimee’ – with fans convinced that the person she is actually singing about is Kim.
READ MORE: Taylor targets exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy in The Tortured Poets Department – taking aim at ‘life-ruining men’
Taylor sings in one line: ‘There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.’
‘All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed ‘F**k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.’
She goes on to add: ‘And it wasn’t a fair fight, or a clean kill / Each time that Aimee stomped across my gravе / And then she wrote hеadlines/ In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take.’
Taylor concludes by confirming she’s changed the name of the woman she’s singing about – further fueling speculation the track is about Kim.
She also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to her 2014 single Shake It Off on TikTok, finding it ironic as the ‘song is about you’.
She sings: ‘And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.’
Sharing their thoughts on social media platform X, one fan described the song as ‘The ultimate f**k you,’ while another shocked listener said: ‘OMFG thanK you aIMee is about Kim Kardashian. This album is SO unhinged.’
Another chimed in: ‘Kim your day of reckoning is here,’ while one simply wrote: ‘Welcome to your tape.’
While the references in Cassandra are largely more subtle, that hasn’t stopped fans from calling out the way in which Taylor appears to be going after Kim.
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Taylor wowed in the album artwork for the eagerly-anticipated record
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She showed off her figure while reclining on a bed
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Smouldering pouts and sizzling stares accompanied the moody album
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She gave the black and white shots her all after releasing the album
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Taylor was subject to stunning close-ups
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Many believe that the title character, Cassandra, is Taylor, while references to ‘the call’ are meant to allude to a phone call between the singer and Kanye, which Kim secretly recorded and posted online.
Additionally, the references to ‘snakes’ in the song are being compared to the use of snake emojis throughout the feud between the trio.
‘thanK you, aIMee may be about Kim, but Dear Reader, please don’t overlook the fact that Cassandra is a brilliant retelling of how Kanye, Kim, and the extended Kardashian family knew the truth and tried to ruin Taylor’s career anyway. Stay for the jabs at Yeezus/Sunday Sessions,’ one said.
‘Cassandra is Taylor and she warned everyone about Kim but no one believed her oh taygod,’ one person shared on X.
Another agreed, writing: ‘Taylor is Cassandra. She tried to warn people about Kim/the Kardashians but people wouldn’t believe her.’
Taylor and Kim’s longtime row actually began thanks to the singer’s dispute with Kanye in 2009, when he famously stormed the stage at the VMAs when she won the prize for Best Female Video.
A furious Kanye took to the stage to declare that Beyonce should have won the prize, telling Taylor: ‘Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you. I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.’
Kim Kardashian and daughter North West dance together on TikTok
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Taylor also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to Shake It Off on TikTok back in January, she writes:# your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you’
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Taylor sings in one line: ‘There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.’ (pictured with Kim in 2015)
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Taylor also seems to hit out at Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West as she sings: ‘And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.’
Taylor Swift shakes off questions about her Kanye West feud
The moment was quickly slammed by furious viewers, as Taylor was then unable to finish her acceptance speech, though Beyonce later invited her on-stage while she accepted the Video Of The Year prize.
After tying the knot with Kanye in 2014, Kim was proudly at his side when he received the coveted Vangard Award at the VMAs.
Appearing to show their feud was quashed, it was Taylor who presented him with the prize, and the pair appeared to have brought an end to their row.
However, in a later interview, Taylor noted that this was far from the case, as Kanye declared on stage that she was asked to present the award ‘for ratings,’ and she refused to speak to him backstage.
She told Rolling Stone: ‘I’m standing in the audience with my arm around his wife, and this chill ran through my body.
‘I realized he is so two-faced. That he wants to be nice to me behind the scenes, but then he wants to look cool, get up in front of everyone and talk s**t. And I was so upset. He wanted me to come talk to him after the event in his dressing room. I wouldn’t go.’
Adding an explosive new level to their feud, Kanye shocked the internet when he released his new song Famous.
It featured the vulgar lyrics ‘I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex/Why? I made that b***h famous.’
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Sharing their thoughts on social media platform X, fans wrote: ‘The ultimate f**k you’The track sparked a huge backlash from Taylor’s fans, and Kanye furiously defended himself in a now-deleted tweet that said: ‘I called Taylor and had an hour-long convo with her about the line, and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.’
Taylor’s representative then hit back, telling People: ‘Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single Famous on her Twitter account.
‘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 b***h famous.”’
Kim sparked a social media firestorm when she shared a Snapchat video of Kanye during a phonecall with Taylor, where the rapper appeared to ask her for permission to include lyrics about her in his new song.
After rapping the line, West can be heard saying: ‘I think this is a really cool thing to have.’
Swift responds: ‘I know, it’s like a compliment, kind of. Yeah, I mean, what’s dope about the line is it’s very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.’
Taylor became the subject of furious backlash when the video was shared online, with many accusing her of being a snake.
After Kim’s post made her the subject of multiple ‘snake’ memes, Taylor stood by her version of events in a furious social media statement.
She wrote: ‘That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet.’
The statement read: ‘Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b****’ in his song?
‘It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b****’ in front of the entire world.’
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It is the Bad Blood singer’s 11th studio album since she burst onto the music scene in 2006
‘He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, 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. I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.’
After hitting back, Taylor took a year-long break from the limelight, and only returned when she released her new single Look What You Made Me Do, in 2017.
After taking a lengthy break from the spotlight, Taylor made a sensational return with her track Look What You Made Me Do.
In the song, and it’s accompanying video, the star took aim at the trolls who had furiously branded her a ‘snake’ after Kim’s phonecall leak.
One clip from the video shows Taylor sitting on a throne surrounded by snakes, a pointed dig at Kim and Kanye.
Later the line ‘Et tu Brute’ is seen carved onto her throne — apparently bemoaning former friend Kim’s apparent betrayal.
After several years of relative silence between Taylor and Kanye, the star furiously took to Instagram to hit out at celebrity manager Scooter, who had purchased the rights to her masters in 2019.
In her post she once again took a pointed dig at Kanye and his 2016 track Famous.
She wrote: ‘ Some fun facts about today’s news: I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world.
‘All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it.
‘Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video that strips my body naked.’
In her track Miss Americana, Taylor noted that she felt ‘alone and bitter’ during her fall-out with Kanye and Kim, adding that she was branded ‘wicked and evil’.
She said: ‘When people decided I was wicked and evil and conniving and not a good person, that was the one I couldn’t really bounce back from, because my whole life was centred around it.’
‘I felt really alone, I felt really bitter, I felt sort of like a wounded animal lashing out. I figured I had to reset everything.’
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Taylor and Kim’s longtime row actually began thanks to the singer’s dispute with Kanye in 2009, when he famously stormed the stage at the VMAs
In the leaked footage , Kanye is seen informing Taylor he is writing a song about her and asking her if she could hype it up by tweeting about it.
Kanye tells her: ‘It has a very controversial line at the beginning of the song about you.’
Kanye then told Taylor she ‘sounded sad’, and the singer questioned if the lyrics were ‘mean’, at which point he reassured her that he didn’t think they were.
He then says the lyric: ‘To all my Southside n***as that know me best / I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex.’
Taylor laughs and says: ‘That’s not mean.’
Kanye goes on: ‘If you felt that it’s funny and cool and hip hop, and felt like it’s the College Dropout and Ye that you love, people would be way into it, and that’s why I think it’s super genius to have you be the one that says, ‘Oh I like this song a lot… this is cool.’
Taylor then tells Kanye she needs some time to think about it, adding: ‘When you hear something for the first time you need to think about it, because it is absolutely crazy.’
There is no mention Kanye would call her a ‘b***h’ or suggest he ‘made her famous’ during the phone call.
Taking to social media after the phonecall was leaked, Taylor said the conversation is ‘proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded that somebody edited, and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years)…’
In her Instagram Story post, Swift basically asked people to now move on from the headline-grabbing infamous feud between her and Kim and Kanye that stems from the rapper’s lyrics in his track Famous.
She started her post by saying: ‘Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked…’ before adding in parentheses how she does feel.
She then concluded: ‘SWIPE UP to see what really matters.’
The singer directed her followers to the Feeding America website, suggesting they donate to the nonprofit organization that operates a network of food banks helping people impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Days after the phone call was leaked, Kim posted a series of messages claiming Swift is not being fully truthful about the 2016 phone call with her and Kanye about the song Famous – and the ongoing dispute as to whether Swift was aware of West’s lyrics, in which he called her a ‘b****.’
She also slammed Taylor for her timing in rehashing the feud as the country remains locked down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians wrote, ‘@taylorswift has chosen to reignite an old exchange – that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now.’
Taylor Swift makes joke in reference to Kanye interrupting her
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Things seem friendly between the pair in 2015, when Taylor presented Kanye with the Vangard Award at the VMAs, but she later admitting in an interview she thought he was ‘two-faced’
Kardashian said she had been avoiding giving the issue any oxygen amid the ongoing global outbreak – and was unhappy about doing so Monday – but needed to in an effort to defend her reputation.
‘I didn’t feel the need to comment a few days ago, and I’m actually really embarrassed and mortified to be doing it right now, but because she continues to speak on it, I feel I’m left without a choice but to respond because she is actually lying,’ Kardashian said.
The Calabasas native explained the nuances of the situation from her perspective: ‘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.’
Taylor’s long time publicist quickly responded with a social media post of her own.
Tree Paine tweeted: ‘I’m Taylor’s publicist and this is my UNEDITED original statement. Btw, when you take parts out, that’s editing.
‘P.S. who did you guys p*** off to leak that video?’ followed by several laughing/crying emojis.
Kim continued: ‘Nobody ever denied the word ‘b****’ was used without her permission.
‘At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.”
Kim clarified her take on the issue, and how she felt actions she and West took were ethical.
‘The lie was never about the word b****, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation. I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative,’ she said.
‘To add, Kanye as an artist has every right to document his musical journey and process, just like she recently did through her documentary.
‘Kanye has documented the making of all of his albums for his personal archive, however has never released any of it for public consumption and the call between the two of them would have remained private or would have gone in the trash had she not lied and forced me to defend him.’
Kardashian made clear she is done commenting on the situation amid the unprecedented times due to the pandemic.
‘This will be the last time I speak on this because honestly, nobody cares,’ she said. ‘Sorry to bore you all with this. I know you are all dealing with more serious and important matters.’
At the MTV VMAs, Taylor announced she is dropping a brand new album on October 21st and it didn’t take fans long to realise that day also happens to be Kim Kardashian’s 42nd birthday.
‘Taylor Swift announcing a new album on the 13th anniversary of the Kanye West VMA sh**show, 5 years after the premier of LWYMMD at the VMAs, which will drop on Kim Kardashian’s birthday is ICON behaviour,’ one fan wrote.
Another said: ‘It’s been 13 years since THAT Kanye-Taylor moment at the VMAs and now Taylor decides to announce her brand new album with 13 tracks at the VMAs today that will be released on October 21st which also happens to be Kim K’s birthday. HER MINDDDDD!!!’
After being named as TIME’s Person Of The Year, Taylor Swift slammed Kim for ‘taking her down psychologically’ and forcing her into hiding during their long-running feud – while subtly branding the reality star and her ex-husband Kanye West as ‘trash’.
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After taking a lengthy break from the spotlight, Taylor made a sensational return with her track Look What You Made Me Do, which took a pointed dig at Kim and her ‘snake’ references
Taylor Swift urges fans to pre-save her new album on Spotify
The singer, 33, who has been named TIME Magazine‘s Person of the Year, dished on the dispute which started when Kim’s then-husband Kanye West wrote a 2016 song to include vulgar lyrics about the rising star.
He claimed Taylor had consented to the reference but, after denying it, Kim also weighed in and released what the popstar described as ‘an illegally recorded phone call’ between the pair which she claimed proved otherwise.
Taylor has now said that the public fallout said it felt like ‘a career death,’ adding: ‘Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me.’
Discussing the aftermath and the brutal toll that it took on her wellbeing, Taylor told the outlet: ‘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.’
‘That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls.’
Although she didn’t elaborate on where she moved to, Swift began dating British actor Joe Alwyn in late 2016, and it was widely rumored that she had rented a home in London in order to spend more time with him.
During that period, she all but vanished from the public eye, something that she says came as a result of the Kardashian and West fallout.
‘I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.’
Most of the pop icon’s next album Reputation, released in 2017, was aimed at her experience during the ordeal.
But the abundance of snake imagery used in veiled reference to mom-of-four Kim, now 43, only reignited the furor.
‘I thought that moment of backlash was going to define me negatively for the rest of my life,’ she explained.
