This may be the biggest feud in music history. Taylor Swift and Katy Perry’s beef is literally never ending. From writing songs about one another to sending indirect tweets to each other, the pop rivals have made their hostility very much known to the public.
But where did all this bitterness stem from? How did two of the world’s biggest stars end up at each other’s throats? We’ve got a timeline of events that led to Taylor Swift and Katy Perry’s feud…
Grab some popcorn because the drama is about to unfold…
The Calm Before the Storm
In 2009, all was well in the world of pop. Taylor and Katy were the best of friends, or so it seemed. The two popstars would regularly pose together at award shows looking all sweet and innocent. There was no controversy surrounding Taylor and Katy was free from any feuds.
Believe it or not, once upon a time, the girls used to tweet nice things about one another and Katy even wanted to work with Taylor! It used to be mad love!
@taylorswift13 You’re as sweet as pie! Let’s write a song together about the subject we know best… for my new record. It’ll be brilliant~
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 6, 2009
Katy Breaks Girl Code
In 2012, Katy started dating Taylor’s ex, John Mayer. Uh-oh! Did this trigger their famous feud? Any other girl would have been furious at Katy for breaking girl code, right?
In 2013 Taylor tweeted this cryptic message to Katy without anyone knowing why:
“@katyperry please never change.”
Taylor vs. Katy is ON!
Things escalated in the summer of 2013 when three of Taylor’s dancers apparently ditched her Red tour to go and work for Katy on her Prism tour. We’re guessing this didn’t go down too well with Taylor.
In an attempt to get back at Katy, the Folklore singer invited Sara Bareilles on stage to perform her single, Brave. Keep in mind, that at the time, Katy released Roar and was being slammed by the media for allegedly stealing the song’s melody from Bareilles’ Brave.
Taylor threw major shade when she called the song “so beautifully written” and “so original” in front of the crowd. OUCH!
Coz Baby Now They’ve Got Bad Blood
In 2014, Taylor told Rolling Stone magazine that her album 1989 featured a track called Bad Blood. She said the single was inspired by a fellow “female artist,”. In obvious reference to her beef with Katy, Taylor said,
“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not. She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?
“She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.’ And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it.”
And that right there was Taylor’s attempt at dragging Katy’s name through the mud! Even though no names were mentioned, the person in subject was pretty obvious!
A day after the Rolling Stone interview dropped, Katy thought she’d take a shot at Tay Tay and so tweeted,
Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) September 9, 2014
In an interview with Billboard, Katy was asked about her war with Taylor. She said, “If somebody is trying to defame my character, you’re going to hear about it.”
Katy Gets Catty!
Katy definitely kept her promise when she told us we’d hear her Roar! The Smile singer had her say on the Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift fight by blasting her pop rival. She tweeted,
Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman… — KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 22, 2015
In other words, Katy thinks Taylor is being a total hypocrite for slamming Nicki and accusing her of “pitting women against each other”. Let’s not forget Taylor’s Bad Blood video was based on her feud with Katy!
SHOTS FIRED! The cat certainly hasn’t got Katy’s tongue!
Taylor got really petty during her 1989 world tour by taking a dig at Katy’s infamous performance at the Super Bowl, where a backing dancer dressed as a shark forgot the choreography.
It only gets worse…
Finally, in August 2015, Katy slut-shamed Taylor by following an account called “sluttytaylorswift” on Instagram. Holy crap!!
True Colors Emerging…
Even Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris admits she has tried to “bury” Katy in the past! Taylor reportedly claimed a writing credit on his song, This Is What You Came For, leading him to rant on Twitter saying:
What was Katy’s response? A GIF of Hilary Clinton, as if to say “I told ya so”.
What’s more? Katy retweeted an old tweet of hers which wrote “Time, the ultimate truth teller”…
Katy Wants an Apology
That’s right. In September when a fan asked she’d ever collaborate with Taylor Swift, Katy replied “if she says sorry, sure!” Could a reconciliation be in the works?
Swish Swish Taylor Swift
Katy released her newest single Swish Swish which many assumed was based on Taylor. A portion of the lyrics heavily implied that Katy was throwing shade at her number one enemy:
“A tiger
Don’t lose no sleep
Don’t need opinions
From a selfish or a sheep.
Don’t you come for me”
We all know that Katy once referred to herself as a “tiger” (in Roar) and it’s common knowledge that she once called Taylor a “sheep”. Is she warning Tay Tay not to “come for her”?
That’s not all.
“Your game is tired
You should retire
You’re ’bout cute as
An old coupon expired
And karma’s not a liar
She keeps receipts”
When Katy talks of “karma” and “receipts”, she could be referring to the time when Kim Kardashian leaked the footage of Taylor and Kanye’s conversation. Ouch!
She Started it, it’s Time for her to Finish it
James Corden asked Katy about her feud with Taylor during their Carpool Karaoke session. She replied:
“There’s a situation. Honestly, it’s really like she started it, and it’s time for her to finish it…I tried to talk to her about it and she wouldn’t speak to me. I do the right thing any time that it feels like a fumble. It was a full shutdown and then she writes a song about me, and I’m like, OK, cool, cool, cool, that’s how you want to deal with it? Karma!”
“But what I want to say is that I’m ready for that BS to be done…You do something, there’s going to be a reaction, and trust me daddy, there’s going to be a reaction. It’s all about karma, right?”
It seems Katy is waiting for Taylor’s apology. James asked: “Would it be enough to just receive a text from Taylor Swift that just said ‘the beef is off the grill?'”
Katy’s answer? “100%”
Taylor’s Spiteful on Spotify
Don’t expect an apology from Taylor anytime soon. It looks like she’s still got a bone to pick. It’s no coincidence that she decided to release her entire back catalogue on Spotify – at the exact moment Katy released her new album, Witness. Talk about trying to steal the spotlight! Is this Taylor’s pettiest move yet?
Katy Forgives Taylor
Despite Taylor’s latest petty move, Katy has finally announced that she wants to end her three-year-feud with the singer. Katy old Thrive Global Podcast‘s Arianna Huffington that she “forgives her” and that she’s “sorry for anything she [I] ever did.”
“I am ready to let it go! I forgive, I forgive, I forgive her and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her…I think it’s time. There are bigger fish to fry, and there are real problems in the world. You know what I’m saying? And I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she’s a fantastic songwriter…If we, both her and I, can be representatives of strong women that come together despite their differences, I think the whole world is going to go like, “Yeah, well we can do this,” I don’t know. Like maybe I don’t agree with everything she does and she doesn’t agree with everything I do, but I just really truly want to come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion.”
There’s No Forgiving Katy
Just when you thought Taylor would do the same and move on, she takes a swipe at her arch nemesis again. In her new song Look What You Made Me Do, Taylor sings, “I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red underlined.” Could she be making a reference to Mean Girls’ Burn Book? Regina George also had her name underlined. It’s also no coincidence that Katy once referred to Taylor as “Regina George in sheep’s clothing”. Subtle, Taylor. Very subtle indeed.
And that’s the latest in the Taylor Swift and Katy Perry saga! We’ll just sit back and wait for Katy’s response. Will she Shake It Off again?
Whose side are you on? Are you Team Taylor or Team Katy?
This article was originally published August 6, 2015
One Response
Oh honey, You forgot to tell your readers that the three dancers were working with Katy before The Red Tour. So they asked Katy if they could go on a tour with Taylor and she said “Okay, she’s great” and told she was gonna call them if she’d start something new. She did as she said and when the dancers went to talk to Taylor’s crew, they got fired.
After that the dancers went out on tour with Madonna and Katy didn’t seen to care, ’cause she’s mature enough to respect their decisions. And they were friends, anyway.
You forgot a lot of stuff on the post, babe. Tell the whole story instead making Katy look guilty of something she didn’t do. Okay? Okay <3
By the way, Katy can date anyone she wants. There's only girl code in high school. Maybe Taylor should get back there.