Taylor can swear she doesn’t love the drama, but we do! There’s nothing that grabs more public attention than a good celebrity feud. Whether it’s a subtle dig or a full-blown diss track, high-profile celebrities throwing shade at each other is more entertaining for the media and the public than any reality show. Taylor Swift, who is arguably the most popular woman alive, hasn’t only made headlines for her chart-topping music — she has also become the talk of the town for having feuds with multiple celebrities.
Billie Eilish and Charlie XCX were recently accused of throwing shade at Taylor Swift for blocking their albums from reaching No. 1. on the streaming charts. These dramas are nothing new in Hollywood; Drake and Kendrick Lamar are not the first artists to step on each other’s toes; nor will they be the last. The bigger the star, the bigger the controversies and feuds they will face, and the same is true for Taylor Swift, who is arguably the most powerful celebrity in the world today. Indeed, Swift has accurately penned her thoughts on the phenomenon, singing, “All of my enemies started out friends,” in The Archer. So, here are the top celebrity feuds Taylor Swift has been involved in over her 18-year musical career.
Deciphering the feuds between Taylor Swift and other celebrities
Joe Jonas
Let’s start at the beginning. In 2008, Taylor and Joe Jonas famously dated. Both teenage pop stars were seen supporting each other and even performing together on occasion. However, their Disney days didn’t last long as they broke up after a few months. Young Taylor called him out on The Ellen Show, revealing that Joe ended things with her over a 27-second phone call. Later, the singer even made fun of him during her SNL monologue.
A few years later, they buried the hatchet and were spotted hanging out together in London in 2015. In 2019, Taylor made another appearance on The Ellen Show and expressed regret over how she handled the situation back then. “That was too much,” she admitted. “I was 18. Yeah, we laugh about it now, but that was mouthy. Just some teenage stuff there.”
After Joe got married to Sophie Turner and welcomed two daughters into the world, Swift sent presents in congratulations. Everything seemed fine until Joe and Sophie’s divorce news came to light. Taylor supported Sophie through the tough times, opening her house to her and taking her along to NFL games. While Sophie and Taylor now appear to be good friends, it isn’t too wild of an assumption to think that things may be a little tense with Joe.
John Mayer
Joe Jonas isn’t the only ex-boyfriend Taylor Swift had a feud with. In her third studio album Speak Now, Swift wrote a song called Dear John which the whole fandom thought was about John Mayer, whom she had dated the year before. After the song came out, Mayer expressed his embarrassment in an interview with Rolling Stone in June 2012, saying, “I never got an email. I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down… I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
During the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swift requested that Swifties did not attack anybody with the assumption that she had written a song about them.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
In 2013, while Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were presenting at the Golden Globes Award ceremony, they made a joke about Swift’s love life. In response to the joke, Taylor quoted Madeleine Albright, saying, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
Later, Tina Fey told Entertainment Tonight that it was all meant in jest, adding that it’s a “shame she didn’t take [the joke] in the crazy-aunt spirit in which it was intended.”
Miley Cyrus
Miley and Taylor have worked together since the former’s Hannah Montana days. They appeared to be on friendly terms; however, the illusion fell apart in 2015, when Taylor and her Girl Squad were everywhere on social media. In an interview, Cyrus appeared to take shots at Swift, saying, “I’m not trying to be in the squad… None of my friends are famous and not because of any other reason than I just like real people who are living real lives, because I’m inspired by them.”
Kanye West & Kim Kardashian
This one is for the history books. The feud between Kim-Kanye and Taylor Swift has to be one of the greatest feuds in Hollywood. It started in 2009, when an intoxicated Kanye ran up on the VMA stage to interrupt Taylor, who had just won the award for Video of the Year. In the midst of Swift’s speech, Kanye snatched the microphone, declaring that Beyoncé had deserved the win. Taylor, then just 19-years-old, was left dumbfounded on stage while the crowd booed the rapper. That night, West posted a hilarious apology on social media.
Even though they reconciled, the good will was short lived. In 2016, Kanye dropped his track Famous where he sang “I made that b*tch famous”, referring to Taylor. And it all went downhill from there. In the music video for the song, West featured wax figures of famous personalities, including Swift, all naked. And this time, Swift and her team were ready to fight back.
However, West’s then-wife Kim Kardashian got involved and posted an altered clip of a phone call, claiming Taylor had heard and approved of the lyrics. The hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty began trending, with Swift depicted as a snake. Following the backlash, Taylor Swift took a year off from music, retreating from the abuse on social media. However, when a video surfaced showing the full, unedited phone call, it became clear to all that Taylor had been telling the truth all along.
Despite Kim’s assurances that ‘she and Swift were over it’, Swift did not appear to share the sentiment. Speaking out in her Time Magazine Person of the Year interview, Swift shared that it was more than a simple conflict; it was a career ambush. “Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” she said. Further adding to the notion that Swift is not over the betrayal is her TTPD song “thanK you aIMee”, which appeared to take shots at Kim’s involvement in the drama.
Karlie Kloss
Taylor was once besties with supermodel Karlie Kloss back in 2014. The wwo best friends went on a well-documented road trip, even gracing the cover of Vogue together in 2015.
Kloss even appeared in the music video for Bad Blood. However, after the Kim-Kanye drama went down, Kloss took the other side. Additionally, when Swift asked for the support of her friends and fellow artists about her masters’ being bought by Scooter Braun, Karlie supported her manager Scooter, even posting pictures taken with him on social media.
Karlie was recently spotted attending the Eras Tour in the non-VIP guest section, which led many fans to believe that Karlie is still a fan, but probably not a friend anymore.
Katy Perry
Katy and Taylor began on friendly terms at the start of their careers. Even when Perry began dating Swift’s ex, John Mayer, they remained amicable. But the beef started when a few backup dancers from Swift’s Red tour, who had previously performed on Perry’s California Dreams tour were supposedly snatched by Perry for her Prismatic tour while Swift’s Red World Tour was still in progress. The incident caused a rift between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, resulting in a very public Twitter feud.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift said her new song Bad Blood was about another woman in the music industry. And many suspected that she was talking about Perry. Swift explained to Rolling Stone that the artist “did something so horrible” and likened her relationship with the unnamed singer to that of “straight-up enemies.” She added, “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.”
The day after the story came out, Perry tweeted, “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…” The fight dragged on, with both Nicky Minaj and Calvin Harris getting caught in the crossfire. In 2017, Katy released Swish Swish ft Nicky Minaj, which many thought to be a diss track about Swift.
During Swift’s Reputation World Tour, Katy Perry sent her an actual olive branch. This appeared to mend the rift between the singers, with Perry eventually appearing in the music video for Swift’s song, You Need to Calm Down. The two artists have been on good terms since then.
Diplo
In 2014, when the Twitter fight between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry was still burning bright, Perry’s then-boyfriend Diplo came to her defence in a really questionable way. He tweeted “Someone should make a kickstarter to get taylor swift a booty”. In response, Swift’s friend Lorde jumped to her defence, replying, “Should we do something about your tiny penis while we’re at it hm.”
While Swift herself has never personally addressed the DJ, the Major Lazer artist appears to have regrets about his decision. In 2019, he said his remarks about Swift were “the worst decision of my career,” adding, “Like I had huge beefs with Lorde and Taylor Swift at the time. And I thought it was so funny, but you know, people hold you accountable for your Twitter in such a strange way. It’s not real life. Sarcasm doesn’t come through on social media.”
Nicki Minaj
When Nicky Minaj wasn’t nominated for Video of the Year at the VMAs for Anaconda back in 2015, she took to social media to express her frustration, writing, “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year.” Swift, whose music video for Bad Blood was nominated, appeared to take the shade personally, writing, “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.”
In response, Minaj said, “Huh? You must not be reading my tweets. Didn’t say a word about you. I love you just as much. But you should speak on this.” Swift later apologised for her comments and the two artists performed together during the VMAs, burying the hatchet.
Camilla Belle
After Joe Jonas broke up with Swift, he almost immediately started dating actress Camilla Belle. Inspired by this, Swift wrote the song Better Than Revenge, which isn’t the most feminist song the singer has penned.
Camila never directly reacted to the song. But when Taylor and Nicky Minaj got into their Twitter feud, Katy Perry 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.” To this, Camila replied, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Calvin Harris
Yet another ex makes the list of Taylor Swift’s infamous celebrity feuds. Swift dated the Scottish DJ Calvin Harris for more than a year before calling it quits in mid-2016. In April, Harris released the song This Is What You Came For with Rihanna. Following their break-up, reports emerged suggesting Swift actually co-wrote the song with Harris using the pen name Nils Sjöberg. As expected, Harris was none too happy about it.
In light of the breaking news, Harris became upset and went on to write a string of angry tweets, calling her out for leaking the news now only to gain public favour. He wrote, “I figure if you’re happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of tearing your ex bf down for something to do.” He added, “Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage, though. … I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy [Perry] ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it.”
The DJ later told British GQ that “it was completely the wrong instinct” to criticise Swift publicly. “I was protecting what I see as my one talent in the world being belittled. It felt like things were piling on top of me and that was when I snapped,” he said, recalling his public outburst. In spite of Harris’ apparent turnaround, the two never reconciled, and were never again seen on friendly terms.
Demi Lovato
While Taylor Swift was dating Joe Jonas, Selena Gomez was simultaneously dating his brother Nick Jonas. This led to Taylor and Selena becoming good friends, and they’re still besties to this day. However, during Selena’s early Disney days, she was also close friends with Demi Lovato. The two young actresses even starred together in the movie Princess Protection Program. When paparazzi asked Demi about Selena, she replied, “Ask Taylor!” which sparked rumours of beef between them.
Over the years, Lovato has taken a few shots at Swift. In 2016, Demi told Glamour, “I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that’s not women’s empowerment. We all do things that aren’t, but I have to ask myself, ‘Am I content with calling myself a feminist?’ Yes, because I speak out.”
At the height of Swift’s beef with talent manager Scooter Braun, Demi took Braun’s side — not surprising, as he was her manager. Speaking on the matter on an Instagram story in June 2019, Demi said, “Personally, I’m grateful he came into my life when he did. Please stop ‘dragging’ people or bullying them. There’s enough hate in this world as it is.” She added, “Y’all can come after me all you want but I’m always gonna stay loyal to my team. I value loyalty more than most people in this world and if my name is gonna be brought into conversations I’m gonna stand up for myself and the ones on my team.”
In August 2023, Demi, alongside many other celebrities at the time, dropped Braun as a manager. Braun has since officially retired from being a talent manager. It seems like the two artists have grown and resolved their issues, with Taylor dancing and singing along to Demi at the 2023 VMAs. Demi has even said that watching Swift enjoying her performance gave her a much-needed boost of confidence.
Scooter Braun
Taylor Swift signed a lucrative record deal with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records when she was just 15 years old. After a decade following the release of Reputation, the singer parted ways with Big Machine, signing with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. In 2019, it came to light that talent manager Scooter Braun had purchased the label as well as Swift’s first six masters, and Taylor took to Tumblr to write a detailed post about how upset she was that the person who had subjected her to “incessant, manipulative bullying” would now own her life’s work.
In the post, Swift detailed the events from her perspective, writing, “Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
At the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference, Braun appeared to hit back, saying, “I just think we live in a time of toxic division, and of people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other and not have conversations. And I don’t like politicians doing it. I don’t like anybody doing it, and if that means that I’ve got to be the bad guy longer, I’ll be the bad guy longer, but I’m not going to participate.”
The Aftermath
Taylor has since started re-recording her old albums, naming them Taylor’s Version. Following the massive fallout with Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun once again made headlines in August 2023 when several high-profile clients including Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, and Justin Bieber, dropped him. Shortly after, he announced his retirement as a manager and is now serving as the CEO of HYBE America.
Justin Bieber
Taylor and Justin were friends when they first started out in their careers, with Bieber even opening for Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour on a few selected dates. Rumours of a feud began to spread after she stuck her tongue out when the singer kissed then-girlfriend Selena Gomez, who is also her best friend, at the Billboard Music Awards in 2013. Additionally, when asked by reporters after the show about Justin earning the Milestone Award at such a young age, Swift snarkily replied, “Can we have another question?”
In 2019, news broke that Scooter Braun, who had been Justin Bieber’s manager until August 2023, had purchased Swift’s masters. Following the news, Swift made an extensive post on Tumblr about how Braun had bullied her, and how she had never been given the opportunity to own her masters despite numerous requests. She added that the entire situation was unfair for her, even attaching a screenshot of Bieber’s Instagram post which showed Scooter and Justin Facetiming with the caption “Taylor Swift what up”.
After, Bieber took to IG to apologise to Taylor for his insensitive behaviour, while also clapping back at the same time. He wrote, “Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you! As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair. What were you trying to accomplish by posting that blog? seems to me like it was to get sympathy u also knew that in posting that your fans would go and bully scooter.”
Following their public fallout, the two artists have not interacted in public.
Damon Albarn
In January 2022, musician Damon Albarn gave an interview with the Los Angeles Times where he implied that Swift might not write her own music. “That doesn’t count. I know what cowriting is. Co-writing is very different to writing,” he said. “I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great.” He went on to add, “Some of the greatest singers — I mean, Ella Fitzgerald never wrote a song in her life. When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense. A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional.”
In response, Taylor took to Twitter (Now X), saying, “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f–ked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”
Albarn later apologised to the songstress, saying his words were taken out of context. “I totally agree with you. I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait,” he wrote. “I apologize unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.”
Olivia Rodrigo
Across many of her earliest interviews, Olivia Rodrigo has called herself ‘the biggest Swiftie in the world’. When Driver’s License came out and started charted along with Swift’s songs, Swift was quick to celebrate Rodrigo’s successes. In an interview with Rolling Stone in April 2021, Rodrigo spoke on how she was inspired by the song Cruel Summer while writing Deja Vu. In another interview, she mentioned being inspired by the chords of Swift’s New Year’s Day while creating “1 step forward, 3 steps back”. The duo met first time at the Brits, where they appeared to be on good terms., with Rodrigo and Conan Gray (another huge Swiftie) even promoting Fearless TV.
In July that same year, Billboard reported that Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent were given credits for the song Deja Vu. Rodrigo also credited Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro from Paramore for her song Good 4 U. However, when Rodrigo began receiving backlash for copywriting issues, with people discrediting her artistic skills, she and her producer Dan Nigro lost millions of dollars in royalty. When asked about the credits, Rodrigo said, “It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity.” She added that it was a “lesson in business.”
After the unfortunate turn of events, Rodrigo has stopped mentioning Taylor Swift. Her best friend Conan has also carefully dodged questions about the singer. Fans seem to think that Rodrigo’s songs Vampire and The Grudge may have been inspired by Swift. Although Swift seemed to enjoy Rodrigo’s performance at the VMAs, they were not shown to have interacted that night.
Billie Eilish
Billie and Taylor have always been on friendly terms, even praising one another on multiple occasions. But ever since The Tortured Poets Department came out, securing Swift the No. 1 position on album charts for both the US and the UK, things have taken a sour turn. Eilishs’ fans have accused Swift of trying to maintain her top spot by releasing new limited edition variants of the album, which give her a competitive edge. These same fans have also accused Swift of intentionally stepping on Eilish’s release date in an attempt to sabotage HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, blocking it from reaching No 1. on the charts. When the dust settled, Swift emerged at the top, with Eilish settling for No. 2.
Is it a fandom fight or another celebrity feud?
In the midst of promoting her new album, Billie was asked by a fan if she would play the whole album in a concert, and whether she would consider making a longer setlist. Addressing the query in front of her listeners, Billie said, “I’m not doing a three-hour show, that’s literally psychotic.” She went on to add, “Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that, you know what I’m saying? I don’t even want that as a fan. Even my favourite artists in the world, I’m not trying to hear them for three hours; that’s far too long.” Billie’s remarks have left a sour taste in Swifties’ mouths, many of whom believe it was an attack on Taylor, as her Eras Tour shows last almost 3 hours.
While speaking about the “wasteful” practice of making collector’s vinyls, Eilish added, “Then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making fucking 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more. It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money.” Swift famously promotes her music by releasing different vinyls; in response, Swifties started attacking Ellish for her comments, leading to her response, “It would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth. I wasn’t singling anyone out.”
Billie also brought out Damon Alburn during her history-making Coachella gig in 2022. Alburn had previously gotten himself in hot water when he compared Swift’s songwriting skills to that of Billie and Finneas. During the live stream, Finneas even said, “We’re getting sued by Taylor Swift.”
Friends to the rescue?
While Taylor Swift did not make a statement to address the situation, her close friend and producer Jack Antonoff’s comments provided a little insight. When asked by a reporter about his successful collaborations with Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, he said, “It’s hard to write unless you’re really compelled, and sometimes what compels you is way more serious things.” He continued, “You don’t hear a lot of great songs about, like, one’s lunch order. So the things you don’t really understand and cause you pain are usually things worth writing about.” Ellish fans think it was a dig at the young artist who just released a song LUNCH on her latest album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT.
Charli xcx
The British pop artist opened for Taylor’s Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. In an Aug 2019 interview with Pitchfork, Charli said that it “kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.” She said she was grateful for the opportunity but doesn’t want to open for any more artists going forward in her career. Swifties became mad at her comments, which led to the singer making a clarifying post on Twitter (Now X). She wrote that her comments were “taken out of context” and added that she was “extremely grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her.” Charli xcx also went on to say that she was used to playing in 18+ club shows, adding, “And so to be on stage in front of all ages was new to me and made me approach my performances with a whole new kind of energy.”
In 2023, rumours emerged that Swift was dating The 1975 singer Matty Healy. Before that, she had also joined the band on stage as a guest performer. At the time, Charli had been a few months into a relationship with The 1975 drummer George Daniel. The couple are currently engaged to be married. Fans speculate that her song Sympathy Is A Knife is about Swift, with lyrics that read, “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick.”
Another rivalry?
When Charli released her album BRAT in June of 2024, it was expected to compete for the number one slot on the UK charts with Bon Jovi’s Forever. At this time, Swift’s TTPD held the top place. However, Swift unexpectedly issued new UK-only editions of TTPD, causing outcry among fans who believed it was meant to keep Charli from taking the top spot. The new variations of Swift’s album were only available for purchase until 11:59 p.m. on June 13, the final day of tracking for the UK charts. In a situation that recalled the release of Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, BRAT eventually debuted at No. 2 on the UK charts, while TTPD remained No. 1.
(main and featured image: taylorswift/Instagram)
This article was first published in Prestige Singapore
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
