The highly-publicised feud between Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in 2016 irrevocably changed the cultural landscape forever. But for the first time since tweeting that Swift would “like to be excluded from this narrative,” the pop supernova is proverbially re-entering the chat.
In a rare in-depth exposé with TIME, Swift offered fans and the industry alike a rare glimpse into her own interior life. The profile was written to accompany Swift’s acknowledgement as the publication’s Person of the Year.
The piece contextualised her mammoth and economic-boosting Eras Tour, her new relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce, and ultimately, her recovery from a near career-ending cancellation.
Undoubtedly, Swift is at the zenith of her success, situated in a stratosphere of accolades and accomplishments only previously set by the likes of The Beatles. However, her former trajectory was interrupted one July day in 2016 as Kardashian posted “evidence” of Swift approving a derogatory lyric in West’s single “Famous”.
Speaking on the cataclysmic chain of events, Swift revealed that she felt the vitriolic backlash was “a career death”.
“Make no mistake—my career was taken away from me,” she added. Going into further detail, Swift remarked: “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.”
Following Kardashian’s “leaking” of the private exchange, Swift was labelled a snake and the hashtag, #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty, proliferated social media platforms, front pages and internet headlines.
Privately, as we now know, Swift explained the response was so laced with malice that she moved to a foreign country, didn’t leave her home and pushed away her network as she was afraid to trust anyone. Ultimately, the 33-year-old leveraged the criticism to fuel her theatrically vengeful 2017 album, Reputation.
Members of Swift’s fanbase are expecting the singer to announce the re-recording of the LP shortly, with the musician teasing the impending release by calling that era’s ‘From The Vault’ tracks “fire”. Later in the article, Swift noted her coping mechanism to manage the venomous onslaught of hate.
“Nothing is permanent. So I’m very careful to be grateful every second that I get to be doing this at this level, because I’ve had it taken away from me before,” she remarked.
“There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art. But, I’ve also learned there’s no point in actively trying to quote unquote defeat your enemies. Trash takes itself out every single time.”
