Taylor Swift forgot Kanye West existed — so she has no bad blood when it comes to being name-dropped in his new song “Carnival.”
“[Taylor] has so much on her plate and isn’t concerned with what Kanye is or isn’t doing,” a source exclusively shares in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “She has no plans on responding publicly or privately.”
West and Swift’s rivalry began back in 2009 during the pop star’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video the MTV VMAs. During Swift’s acceptance speech, West hopped on stage to share that Beyoncé had one of the “best music videos of all time” for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
The feud exploded in 2016 when West claimed Swift permitted him to name-check her in his track “Famous.” Swift, however, claimed she never approved of the line, “I made that bitch famous.” West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, later shared a secretly recorded video of the duo’s conversation, leading Swift to request she be “excluded from the narrative.”
“From Taylor’s point of view, this beef is one-sided,” a second insider tells Us. “Kanye is trying to get back in the spotlight and an easy way to do that is through Taylor, who has completely moved on.”
“Carnival” is a track featured on West and Ty Dolla $ign’s album, Vultures 1, which dropped on Saturday, February 17. The song comes just days after rumors swirled that Swift had kicked West out of Super Bowl LVIII for purchasing tickets in front of her private suite. The speculation sparked when former NFL player Brandon Marshall made the accusation during his “Paper Route” podcast earlier this month, claiming that Swift was “pissed off” and made a “call or two” to get West booted from the event.
West’s rep, however, told TMZ that the reports were nothing more than “a completely fabricated rumor.” (CBS showed West and wife Bianca Censori in the stands during the game, indicating that he was never tossed from Allegiant Stadium.)
While Swift may be leaving the drama in the past, she, like West, has also written about their tension over the years. After the VMAs incident, the singer released “Innocent” on her 2010 album Speak Now, which detailed a 35-year-old man “still growing up.” At the time, Swift explained why it was important for her to craft the ballad — and why she wasn’t interested in a pity party.
“I think a lot of people expected me to write a song about [West],” she told New York Magazine. “But, for me, it was important to write a song to him. It doesn’t really add anything good if I start victimizing myself and complaining about things. Because I’m proud of that performance at the VMAs last year, where my fans helped me get through it.”
Swift noted that she is someone who feels “everything” that happens to her, adding, “I’ve never had this thick skin. It’s not like I am bulletproof in any sense of the word.”
While “Innocent” was a gentler approach to West, her song “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” off of 2016’s Reputation took a harsher tone after the duo’s infamous phone contributed to Swift leaving the spotlight for more than a year.
“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,” Swift explained during her TIME person of the year cover story in December 2023. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”
Whether or not Swift will mention West in her upcoming 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, remains to be seen. The record hits shelves on April 19 and includes the track “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” a title that has left some fans to believe it could be about the rapper.
For more about Swift and West’s feud, pick up the newest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
