Keith GirardTaylor Swift and Kanye West are at each other’s throats again over lyrics from West’s new song “Famous.” He raps about having sex with Swift because she owes him for making “that bitch famous.” Swift said the song had a “strong misogynistic message.”
The issue blew up yesterday amid Kanye’s blowout Madison Square Garden fashion show. It coincided with the release of his new album The Life of Pablo.
West faced immediate push back on social media because of the lyrics, which caused the rapper to go ballistic.
Kanye claimed he’d spoken to Swift about the song last month over the phone to let her know the content. He said she told him she was okay with the lyric.
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For the record it goes like this:
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex
Why? I made that bitch famous.”
But last night a statement emanated from the Swift camp, condemning the song and disputing Kanye’s version of events.
“Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account,” the statement read. (Sounds like she made him famous)
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“She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.” Her rep added: “Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that bitch famous.'”
Kayne fired back in a blistering Twitter rant.
“I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her. First thing is I’m an artist and as an artist I will express how I feel with no censorship. 2nd thing I asked my wife for her blessings and she was cool with it. 3rd thing I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings. 4th Bitch is an endearing term in hip hop like the word Ni–a. 5th thing I’m not even gone take credit for the idea… it’s actually something Taylor came up with … She was having dinner with one of our friends who’s name I will keep out of this and she told him. I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous! #FACTS.”
Could it be that she was joking?
The incident they referring to, of course, occurred at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift had just won for Best Female Video. West rushed the stage and grabbed the mic from her hand during her acceptance speech.
He protested that Beyonce’s video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ should have won the award. West was rounding booed and Swift, still a teen, was clearly upset.
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She got a chance to finish her speech when Beyonce, who won Video of the Year, graciously handed over the mic to her.
By then, of course, she was already a multi-platinum artist and famous in her own right.
Kanye, in his own imitable style also had much more to say:
“6th Stop trying to demonize real artist Stop trying to compromise art. That’s why music is so fu*king watered down right now I miss that DMX feeling. 7th I miss that feeling so that’s what I want to help restore. 8th They want to control us with money and perception and mute the culture but you can see at Madison Square Garden that you can stop us. 9th It felt like a seen from The Warriors ALL GODS ALL GODS ALL GODS in the buildin. Not just the famous people there but the kids the moms the dads the families that came to share this moment with us.”
Ironically, Taylor’s brother Austin Swift led the online protest after the song was released. He posted a video of himself on Instagram throwing his high-prices Yeezy sneakers into the garbage.
“Getting a head start on some spring cleaning,” he wrote. “Here we go again.”
We have a feeling this isn’t over yet. Let us know your thoughts and be sure to follow IM on Twitter for the latest celebrity news.