The ‘Famous’ rivalry between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian is the feud that keeps on giving.
Pop star Swift touched on the years-old saga in a piece for Elle magazine’s April issue published on Wednesday. The 29-year-old singer listed 30 things she learnt before turning 30, and one of the lessons had to do with the “online hate campaign” Kardashian launched that taught her how to laugh at “petty bullying.”
Though she didn’t use the reality star’s name, the subtext was there given Swift’s long-running feud with rapper Kanye West and later his wife, Kim Kardashian, who famously referred to Swift as a “snake” on social media.
The drama played out in 2016 when Swift denied giving her approval for a lyric in West’s song ‘Famous’, and Kardashian took it upon herself to release audio indicating otherwise.
“In my experience, I’ve come to see that bullies want to be feared and taken seriously,” Swift wrote. “A few years ago, someone started an online hate campaign by calling me a snake on the internet. The fact that so many people jumped on board with it led me to feeling lower than I’ve ever felt in my life.”
But Swift, who has been vocal about the social media backlash, later embraced the serpentine simile and incorporated the reptilian motif into her 2017 ‘Reputation’ album and subsequent stadium tour.
“I can’t tell you how hard I had to keep from laughing every time my 63-foot inflatable cobra named Karyn appeared onstage in front of 60,000 screaming fans,” Swift wrote.
“It’s the Stadium Tour equivalent of responding to a troll’s hateful Instagram comment with ‘lol.’ It would be nice if we could get an apology from people who bully us, but maybe all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive it, and thrive in spite of it,” Swift added.
In a January appearance on Bravo’s ‘Watch What Happens Live!’ Kardashian said that “we’ve all moved on” from the squabble.
Elsewhere in the article, the Grammy winner extended the metaphor and urged readers to only retaliate when taken advantage of.
“Grow a backbone, trust your gut, and know when to strike back. Be like a snake — only bite if someone steps on you,” Swift wrote.
She also touched on her own sexual-assault trial, stage fright after the concert shooting in Las Vegas and bombing in Manchester, England, her parents’ cancer battles, her political viewpoint and even her love of Command tape.
