What Really Happened Between Katy Perry And Taylor Swift
When it comes to celebrity feuds, nothing is more iconic than the infamous rift between pop stars Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. For years, these two artists were the subject of rumors and controversy,
having made countless headlines, their highly publicized beef marking one of the most popular battles in the realm of pop music, next to Madonna and Janet Jackson, JLo and Mariah Carey, and Britney Spears and Cristina Aguilera.
Perry and Swift, who rose to Hollywood fame at almost the same time, were great friends for years until a terrible feud tore them apart. It all started from 2013, when three back-up dancers of Swift in her Red concert tour left her show to join Perry’s Prism tour. Then, when the “Lover” singer released her song "Bad Blood” in 2014, fans realized that something was up. Below, a look back at how Perry and Swift went from good friends to enemies, and back again.
9 How The Drama Between Katy Perry And Taylor Swift Began
Talks of a falling out between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift started circulating in late 2013, when dancer Lockhart Brownlie said in an interview that he and two other dancers left Swift’s Red tour to join Perry’s Prism tour. According to Brownlie, he agreed to jump ship as he had already worked with Katy back in 2011 and wasn't dancing much on Swift’s tour anyway.
"Obviously we were with Katy for two and a half years, she’s like family to us,” he said. "So we were, like, 'Absolutely.' We weren’t really dancing in Taylor's tour anyway, so I had got a little bored, and I really wanted to do a promo tour.” The celebrity dancer also talked about what it's like working with Perry versus Swift. "Taylor is very untouchable. When we did see her, we had so much fun with her, but she's a lot more protected than Katy,” he said.
8 How Taylor Swift Hinted At A Feud With Katy Perry
In 2014, as she was promoting her 1989 album, Taylor Swift revealed that one of her songs in the record, “Bad Blood”, is inspired by her feud with another celebrity. She didn’t mention Katy Perry’s name, of course, but fans were quick to pick up the clues and connect the dots themselves. “She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour,” said Swift in her interview with the Rolling Stones. “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.”
In what many believed was her response to Taylor Swift’s interview, Perry wrote in a Twitter post, “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…”
7 When Katy Perry Sided With Nicki Minaj Instead Of Taylor Swift
In 2015, rapper Nicki Minaj aired her frustration about not receiving a Video of the Year nomination at the MTV VMAs for her “Anaconda” video. It sparked a brief but heated exchange between her and Taylor Swift, who herself was nominated – and eventually won – the category for her “Bad Blood” music video. “When the 'other' girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination," Minaj wrote in one tweet. "If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year," she wrote .
Swift took offense at the tweets, and said, "I've done nothing but love and support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.." To which Minaj responded, "Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn’t say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this."
Though Nicki Minaj already made it clear that she wasn’t pertaining to Swift, this didn’t stop Katy Perry from commenting on the matter on Twitter, particularly on Taylor Swift’s since-deleted tweet. "Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman..." she said.
6 How Katy Perry Reacted To Calvin Harris’ Twitter Rant
Amid the drama surrounding their secret collaboration on ‘This Is What You Came For’ that was made public in 2016, DJ Calvin Harris unleashed a tirade against his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift on Twitter, in which he not only alluded to Swift’s then-new relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston, but also her long-running feud with Perry. “I know you’re off tour, and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it,” wrote Harris. Katy Perry immediately responded to the rant with a Hillary Clinton GIF that seems to say, “I told you so”, along with a tweet she made in 2015, which reads, “Time, the ultimate truth teller."
Later, when a fan asked her whether she’s open to collaborating with Swift, Perry wrote, “If she says sorry, sure!”
5 Katy Perry Drops ‘Swish Swish’, And Talks About Taylor Swift Feud On Carpool Karaoke
In 2017, talks of the Katy Perry and Taylor Swift feud resurfaced when Perry dropped her song “Swish Swish” as an apparent answer to Swift’s “Bad Blood.” She then addressed their longstanding rift when she appeared on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke to promote her Witness album.
"There’s a situation. Honestly, it’s really like she started it, and it's time for her to finish it," explained Perry. "It's about backing dancers, there were three backing dancers. … I tried to talk to her about it, and she wouldn't speak to me." The “Fireworks” singer added: “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, ‘Okay, cool, cool, cool, that's how you want to deal with it? Karma!’"
4 When Was Katy Perry Ready To End Beef With Taylor Swift?
"I am ready to let it go," Katy Perry told the Thrive Global podcast in 2017. "I forgive her, and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her. I think it’s actually like, 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? I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she’s a fantastic songwriter."
The hitmaker said that while she and Swift don’t always see eye to eye, she hopes that they can come together “in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion."
3 How Taylor Swift And Katy Perry Reconnected
After five long years, Katy Perry finally put an end to her infamous feud with Taylor Swift by sending her a literal olive tree branch in 2018 as a peace offering. This was revealed by Swift herself, posting on Instagram Stories a picture of the tree branch and a handwritten note that came with it.
“Thank you Katy”, she captioned her post, followed by a heart emoji. Swift then returned the touching gesture by sending Perry homemade cookies, with the words “Peace at Last” written in frosting.
2 Katy Perry's Cameo In Taylor Swift’s Music Video
Days later, Taylor Swift released the official music video for her song “You Need To Calm Down”, featuring a number of celebrities and a surprise cameo by Katy Perry. Speaking with BBC Radio, Swift revealed that she asked Perry to star in her video after the two reconciled.
“When I thought of this concept for the video, and I wrote the treatment, I thought of this idea and was like, I’m just going to ask her if she’d be interested in this, but I would be totally fine if she’d rather keep it private and keep it between us,” said Swift. “But I sent it to her and she was like, ‘I would love for us to be a symbol of redemption and forgiveness.’ And I feel the same way about it.”
1 Taylor Swift's Gift To Katy Perry's Daughter
Since the reconciliation, it’s been all love between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. In 2020, Swift even sent Perry a hand-embroidered blanket as a gift for her daughter Daisy Dove with actor Orlando Bloom.
"Miss [Daisy] adores her hand-embroidered blankie from miss @taylorswift,” wrote Perry as she shared a photo of the pink silk blanket on Instagram. "Hope it’s one she drags around for years till it becomes an unrecognizable shred that she keeps in her pocket as a teenager."
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