‘I’m gonna let you finish’ ... Kanye West (known now as Ye) grabs the mic from Swift. Photo: Jason DeCrow/AP
Let’s break down one of the most infamous bullying campaigns: Ye’s (formerly Kanye West’s) campaign to bully Taylor Swift. Why did it start? What was he trying to achieve? What was the result?
2009 MTV Awards were not the first time Ye went rogue – taken from The The Guardian Monday 14th September 2009
“2004: West allegedly walked out of the American Music awards claiming he was ‘robbed’ when country singer Gretchen Wilson won Best New Artist instead of him. ‘I was the best artist of the year,’ he told reporters, claiming a conspiracy was at work.
2005:West goes off-script live on NBC during a Hurricane Katrina benefit concert to tell America, ‘George Bush doesn’t care about black people.’…
2005: It’s not just MTV awards that get West all riled up. Prior to the 2005 Grammys, the rapper warned there would be a ‘real problem’ if he went away empty-handed…
2006: West delivered an expletive-ridden tirade when Justice vs Simian scooped the Best Video award at the MTV Europe Music awards in Copenhagen…
2006: An interview with Rolling Stone stokes more controversy and Fox News get to run the immortal headline “Kanye West poses as Jesus, says he’s addicted to porn.”
2007: At the MTV Video Music Awards the rapper apparently became “upset” when he had to perform his song Stronger from the Palms’ Hugh Hefner Sky Villa instead of the main stage. When he walked away empty-handed after receiving five nominations, he reportedly yelled: ‘That’s two years in a row, man … I’m trying hard, man, I have the number one record, man.’
2008: Ye’s ever-expanding blog becomes the outlet for his capital-letter frustration with just about everyone. In response to his arrest after an altercation with a photographer. “Let us not forget the paps killed Princess Diana,” he writes.
2009: Someone, somewhere, goes a step too far when they assume West’s identity on Twitter. “I DON’T HAVE A FUCKING TWITTER… WHY WOULD I USE TWITTER???” he writes. Why indeed, when there are so many awards shows to vent your opinion at?
2009: ‘South Park murdered me last night’, writes West, after the rapper was depicted on the show as a gay man attracted only to male fish. In a rare and apparently fleeting moment of self-awareness, he writes. ‘As long as people think I act like a bitch this type of shit will happen to me.’”
To be fair let’s look at Taylor Swift’s behaviour – Jemima Skelly Buzz Feed November 2022
1. Katy Perry
Republic Records
“…It all started when Katy accused Taylor of poaching all her backup dancers for her Red tour. They fought on Twitter, where Katy called her a ‘Regina George in sheep’s clothing.’ Taylor then released ‘Bad Blood,’ which was almost definitely about Katy. … Then, Katy’s ‘Swish Swish’ was interpreted as a Taylor diss track.
The ‘feud” went unresolved for years until 2018, when Katy sent Taylor a literal olive branch as a peace offering on the opening night of her Reputation tour.
The following year, Katy appeared on Taylor’s star-studded ‘You Need to Calm Down’ music video, and all was well in the world of Taylor and Katy.
1. Nicki Minaj
…Back in 2015, Nicki tweeted her frustration that ‘Anaconda’ wasn’t nominated for Video of the Year at the VMAs. ‘If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year,’ she wrote.
Fair enough! But Taylor took it as a personal attack and replied, ‘I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.’ She then invited the rapper to take the stage with her, saying that Nicki is ‘invited to any stage I’m ever on.’
Nicki hit back saying that she definitely wasn’t referring to Taylor with those tweets, and partially blamed the media for twisting her words. Taylor then apologized to Nicki, tweeting: ‘I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, I misunderstood, then misspoke. I’m sorry, Nicki.’
At the show, Taylor Joined Nicki on stage to sing ‘The Night Is Still Young’ and a few lines of ‘Bad Blood.’…
3. Diplo
In 2014, when he was dating Katy Perry, Diplo trashed Taylor on Twitter, writing, ‘Someone should make a Kickstarter to get Taylor Swift a booty..’
Lorde jumped to her friend’s defense, replying: ‘Should we do something about your tiny penis while we’re at it hm.’
Taylor never responded, but in 2019, Diplo said that making those tweets was ‘the worst decision of my career.”‘
Most of Taylor’s arguments seem mild compared with Ye’s explosions. And Taylor seems capable of giving genuine apologies when in the wrong. I’ll look at Ye ability to apologise tomorrow.
#TaylorSwift #YeWest
