Kanye West Aims Sexually Charged Lyric at Taylor Swift During ‘Pablo’ Unveiling
UPDATE (2/12): According to Variety, Swift is (understandably) not so thrilled with Kanye's referential "Famous" lyrics. "Kanye did not call for approval,” Swift's spokesman told the site. “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 bitch famous.'"
Still, Kanye insists the lyric was Taylor's idea. "I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her…," he tweeted. "I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings."
Just when you thought the Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift saga had reached a peaceful conclusion, Kanye decided to revisit the war zone and light up the battlefield.
Earlier today (February 11), during the unveiling of West's new album, The Life Of Pablo, at New York City's Madison Square Garden, fans heard a lyric about the 1989 singer that left them more than a little shocked. And, according to Pitchfork, it went a little bit something like this:
"I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous."
Oh, umm. Hmm. Wow. Okay. Right.
The line, which was broadcast via a concurrent TIDAL livestream, is apparently from "Famous," which features Rihanna and Swizz Beatz. It's No. 4 on Pablo, and played somewhere between Naomi Campbell's cameo during the simultaneous Yeezy Season 3 debut and a Kanye-sanctioned "F--- Nike!" chant at today's festivities (those both really happened, yes).
Tension first ignited between Kanye and Taylor in 2009, when Kanye interrupted Taylor's Best Female Video Award acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards to publicly insist that Beyonce — Taylor's fellow nominee — was more deserving. The two proceeded to take jabs at each other in the ensuing years, but seemed to have finally buried the hatchet at the 2015 VMAs, when Taylor proudly introduced Kanye as the recipient of the Video Vanguard Award. Guess we'll have to wait and see how T. Swift reacts to this one...
What do you think of Kanye's T. Swift-themed lyric? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Look back at a collection of rather shocking magazine covers: