Since their meteoric rise to stardom, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift have quickly become two of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood. They used to have a really solid friendship earlier in their careers, but things changed drastically in 2013!
With similar levels of fame and talent, it’s only natural that Taylor and Katy developed a bit of a rivalry – in this article, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about the Katy Perry vs Taylor Swift feud. Keep reading to learn more.
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Who Is Katy Perry?
Pop icon Katy Perry is best known for her quirky personality and colourful music videos. Starting out as a conservative gospel singer, she was set on pursuing a career in music right after high school. In 2008, her hit song ‘I Kissed A Girl’ launched her to fame and into the Billboard charts.
Who Is Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift has certainly evolved in both her music and style after trading out her signature cowboy boots for a pair of stilettos. She’s become one of the most successful young artists in the world, known for her captivating lyrics and catchy acoustic melodies. Though she’s been criticised for overusing her ex-boyfriends as lyrical content, there’s no denying that Taylor is a musical force to be reckoned with.
Katy And Taylor’s Friendship And Feud
Since 2008, the two singers had a pretty complicated relationship. Now that they’re older, Katy (34) and Taylor (29), they’ve outgrown their petty fighting. Despite this, the drama that went down in the previous years is hard to forget. Let’s spill the tea and look back on the Katy Perry-Taylor Swift feud timeline!
Where It All Started (2008-2009)
Before the beef, Taylor and Katy had nothing but mad love for one another. They enjoyed hosting the 2008 MTV VMAs together and appeared in plenty of pictures side by side in award shows, often exchanging jokes and hugs.
Transitioning into 2009, Taylor and Katy continued to publicly display their admiration for each other. Katy tweeted that Taylor “deserves all the awards in the world”. She even invited Taylor to do a collab with her on her new record! Meanwhile, Taylor replied that she’ll be “hanging a poster of Katy on her wall”.
Did John Mayer Hurt Their Friendship? (2010-2012)
In late 2009-early 2010, John Mayer and Taylor Swift were rumoured to have dated despite the 12-year age gap. Though Taylor never confirmed this, her song ‘Dear John’ was enough for the media to believe that the brief romance happened.
Two years later, Katy broke the no-dating-your-friend’s-ex rule after posting a picture with John Mayer on IG. Despite rumours speculating that Katy’s new relationship caused friction between the girls, they continued to send supportive tweets to one another.
Dancer Drama (2013)
This is where it all really started. There were three dancers who developed a very close bond with Katy after working with her for more than two years. Since Katy wasn’t touring at the time, they decided to audition for Taylor Swift’s The Red Tour and booked it.
When Katy announced that she was headed back on the road for her Prism album, the dancers wanted to be part of it. They spoke with Swift’s management team to explain but instead got fired on the spot.
One of the dancers, Lockhart Brownlie, came forward to speak about the incident. He told The Examiner that, “Obviously we were with Katy for 2 1/2 years. She’s like family to us, so we were, like: Absolutely! We weren’t really dancing on Taylor’s tour anyway”.
Taylor’s Side Of The Story (2014)
Needless to say, Taylor assumed the worst of Katy. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she opened up about who ‘Bad Blood’ was written about. She expressed that, “For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not”. She then brought up the issue with the dancers and said, “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”.
Katy fired back with a tweet: “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…”. This Mean Girls reference suggests that perhaps Taylor was twisting the truth and playing victim – something Regina George was known for in the film.
The Tea On Twitter (2015)
Throughout her career, Taylor developed a reputation for ruffling some feathers with her co-celebrity musicians. For the 2015 VMAs, Nicki Minaj ranted that it was unfair that, “only white, slim women were nominated”. Taylor took this personally and replied, “I’ve done nothing but love and support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other“.
Nicki denied that the tweet was about Taylor, but Katy didn’t stay quiet. She tweeted, “Finding it ironic to parade the pit against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalises on the takedown of a woman…”. Ouch.
Calvin Harris Speaks Up (2016)
Taylor and Calvin dated for more than a year and seemed to have had a clean break-up. But things quickly went sour when Taylor’s team attempted to make him look bad. They revealed that Taylor was the lyricist behind Calvin’s hit track ‘This Is What You Came For’ and Calvin was furious.
On Twitter, he wrote, “Initially, she wanted it kept a secret, hence the pseudonym”. And continued with, “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”. Meanwhile, Katy responded with a Hilary Clinton GIF as if to say I-told-you-so and tweeted, “Time, the ultimate truth-teller”.
Katy’s Side Of The Story (2017)
Katy collaborated with Nicki Minaj for her track ‘Swish Swish’. On Jimmy Fallon, she explains that the song “is a great anthem for people to use whenever someone’s trying to hold you down or bully you”. Though she didn’t explicitly mention Taylor in that interview, she addressed their rivalry on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke episode.
She cleared things up and even mentioned that she tried reaching out to Taylor! While Katy was ready to make amends, Tay-Tay was busy making ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ for her Kim K. and Kanye feud.
Katy Reaches Out To Taylor (2018-2019)
Katy has been wanting to move past her beef with Taylor Swift for a while. She emphasised that women should be working together instead of fighting over petty issues. Katy proved to be the bigger person, sending Taylor a letter and an olive branch – symbolising peace and harmony. Moved by the gifts, Taylor sent out a public thank-you to Katy on her IG story.
Nothing signifies a truce like a batch of freshly-baked cookies with the words “peace at last” written in frosting. In June 2019, the two musicians shared that they are officially on good terms.
Friends Again
Taking it a step further, Katy makes a cameo in Taylor Swift’s new music video ‘You Need To Calm Down’. The song is about promoting equal rights and features popular celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, Ryan Reynolds, and RuPaul. Before the video ends, Katy and Taylor hug it out dressed as a burger and fries – finally ending their feud as food.
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