Two nights ago Kim Kardashian almost broke the internet in a way her bare bottom pictures never could. It was the latest shot in the ongoing feud between Kim’s husband Kanye West and Taylor Swift, a feud that began in 2009 when West hopped on stage while Swift was accepting her MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video and said his infamous line about letting her finish but Beyoncé having the best video of all time. Swift was 19 at the time, and the gawky girl looking embarrassed on stage united Americans in Kanye-hate, up to and including President Obama who called him “a jackass.”
They’ve traded lobs since then. Taylor wrote a song about it. Kanye took credit for her success at every opportunity. Taylor shot back at Kanye, without using his name, by saying people will try to take credit for your success, in her speech after winning a Grammy award for album of the year.
Recently, the West song “Famous” has been the sticking point. In it, West raps “I think me and Taylor might still have sex, I made that b*tch famous.” West and Kardashian have both insisted that Swift approved the lyrics, with Swift mostly seeming like she was trying to get away from two smelly guys on the train trying to rub their stink on her. She denied approving the lyrics but more so focused on saying: Seriously, you guys, leave me alone.
When Kardashian used Snapchat to post the video of West on the phone with Swift seeking her permission for the lyric, the internet exploded. Taylor was a fake and worse, a fake victim!
Most people gravitated to the side they naturally preferred. Kardashian-fans and Swift-haters made #taylorswiftisoverparty trend on Twitter, while Taylor’s “squad” rushed to her defense.
My own instinct was to be on Team Kim. I’m a Kardashian-sympathizer. I love their made-something-out-of-not-much American story. And while I don’t watch their show with any regularity or buy any of their stuff, I root for them when stuffy old coots like Piers Morgan give them advice like “try to be successful with your clothes on” (Kim shot back “he should try to be successful with his clothes off. It’s hard.”)
My feelings on Kanye West are different. I’m a huge fan of his work. I think Graduation was one of the top 5 albums of all time, but Kanye West the man is detestable. His low blows and outbursts, his giant ego and inability to be humble as his success grew are all grating to the point that I change the channel when his awkward face would appear on the screen.
Meanwhile, I never, ever, ever need to hear another Taylor Swift song. It’s not that I don’t think she’s talented, she obviously is, but there are plenty of music styles featuring talented musicians that are still boring, and Taylor Swift is in that category. My 6-year-old independently discovered her music and became a big fan. That’s what I think of Swift ultimately: It’s music for 6-year-olds.
With all this being prefaced, it’s odd then that I found myself on Team Swift. Swift has been treated somewhat unfairly lately after being the golden girl for so long. There’s nothing Americans love more than building a pedestal for someone only to then knock them off of it — and Swift is the latest victim of that.
She has recently been facing bad publicity for breaking up with DJ Calvin Harris and jumping into a new relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston mere seconds later. People have accused her of “using” men, an accusation that never applies to Hollywood men “using” women. Swift is successful and young, why shouldn’t she play the field like the men do?
As for Kanye “asking permission” to berate her in a song, the video clearly shows a stumbling Swift trying to get off the phone. Even if she did approve the part about there still being the possibility that they would have sex, there is no way she would approve where he calls her a b*tch and takes credit for her success. You have to only have passing knowledge of Swift to know she isn’t giving some dude permission to be responsible for her fame. For better or worse, she built that.
West thinks the world owes him, and that includes Swift. His great musical talent doesn’t obscure the fact that he’s a lost child looking for attention. Swift shouldn’t stoop to his level and give it to him.
