Kanye West ignited the Internet—and upset Taylor Swift's family and friends—when a lyric on the song "Famous" from his upcoming album, T.L.O.P., referenced the pop singer: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/I made that bitch famous."
Last night, Taylor's publicist issued a response to the song and told BuzzFeed News that Kanye initially reached out to Taylor to promote "Famous" and she declined. Her publicist also dispelled rumors that Taylor got a heads up about the song's lyrics. The full statement reads:
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 bitch famous." Taylor hasn't responded personally yet, so for now, we've got her brother Austin Swift's genius response on replay.
Taylor Swift isn't here for you Kanye. After he dissed her in a song by saying that he "made her famous" (among other not so niceties), Swift fired back from the Grammys stage after winning Album of the Year for 1989—but in a classy, most Taylor-like way.
"I just want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments—or your fame—but if you just focus on the work and you don't let those people sidetrack you, some day when you get where you're going, you'll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love who put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world. Thank you."
West’s new track “Famous,” which debuted with his entire The Life of Pablo album at the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday, includes the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”
Now, Swift is speaking up, asserting that she objects to the song’s “strong misogynistic message” — and told Kanye so — but was never told about the line, “I made that bitch famous.”
According to a message supplied to EW from Swift’s rep, “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 bitch famous.’”
Swift’s brother Austin has already made his displeasure known: After the album’s debut, he posted an Instagram video in which he tossed his Yeezy sneakers in the trash, captioned, “Getting a head start on some spring cleaning. Here we go again.“
West and Swift have been trading public barbs of late. West claimed on his new album that he “made the b***h famous.” In return Swift seemingly referred to West in her Grammy acceptance speech Monday: “There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
Kanye West allegedly had a meltdown backstage before his performance on “Saturday Night Live” last weekend — and now leaked audio purportedly of the tirade has the Internet buzzing. Page Six reported that “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels had to do some fast talking to convince West to stay and perform. A source close to West told HollywoodLife that the rapper went on the rant with his team, not with “SNL” staff.
"He found out his stage design was changed and taken apart under the direction of the show’s lighting director without anyone’s approval. He had spent an entire day rehearsing and a lot of hard work into the performance. Dramatic set changes were made 30 minutes before going live. It should be understandable why he was upset after being completely blindsided,” the source said. “Later in the evening, after everything was fixed and following his performance, Kanye was seen hugging Lorne Michaels just before the goodnights and he stayed afterwards to chat with the staff and the cast, and thanked the producers on his way out the door.”
Taylor Swift's platform boots were made for walking – and that's just what she'll do. On Wednesday, the singer stepped out in Los Angeles for a casual trip to Isabel Marant's Melrose boutique one day after Kanye West deemed her "not cool."
Swift, 26, flaunted her stems in a svelte black mini dress as her black purse with a gold chain hung from her shoulder. The "Style" hitmaker completed her look with minimal makeup – including her signature red pout – framed by her super-short bob, which she debuted at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.
West has claimed Swift was aware of the lyric and gave her blessing prior to the song's debut. However, Swift's rep told PEOPLE earlier this month that "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single 'Famous' on her Twitter account," adding, "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.'"