Kim Kardashian has accused Taylor Swift of lying, after the singer claimed that newly leaked tape of her infamous 2016 phone call with Kanye West, exonerated her longstanding claim that Kanye did not tell her that he planned to rap “I made that bitch famous” about her on his 2016 single, Famous.
In an Instagram story, Swift wrote: “Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that was leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family and fans through hell for 4 years)… SWIPE UP to see what really matters”. She then linked to WHO and Feeding America, and called on fans to join her in donating to them during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kim Kardashian who has been at the middle of all the brouhaha, on Monday took to her Twitter to call out Taylor Swift, saying Swift was lying about West not calling to ask for permission. “The lie was never about the word ‘bitch’,” she claimed. “It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation. I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.”
In her tweets, Kardashian West resists the contention that she “edited” the original video, suggesting that everyone understood that the few minutes of snippets she released on Snapchat were not the entirety of the conversation. She concedes that her husband did not read Swift the “that bitch” language ultimately used to describe Swift in his song “Famous,” but suggests that was never at the crux of the dispute.
“Kanye has documented the making of all of his albums for his personal archive, however, has never released any of it for public consumption & the call between the two of them would have remained private or would have gone in the trash had she not lied & forced me to defend him”.
Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, responded later Monday night with a tweet of her own that included a screenshot of a statement she released in 2016, which had been quoted in part by Kardashian West.
“I’m Taylor’s publicist,” wrote Paine, “and this is my UNEDITED original statement. Btw, when you take parts out, that’s editing. P.S. Who did you guys piss off to leak that video?”
Kardashian West did not address the subject of who might have leaked the video in her tweets.
Her messages, in full:
“.@taylorswift13 has chosen to reignite an old exchange – that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now.
“I didn’t feel the need to comment a few days ago, and I’m actually really embarrassed and mortified to be doing it right now, but because she continues to speak on it, I feel I’m left without a choice but to respond because she is actually lying.
“To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that “Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘bitch’ was used without her permission.
“At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.’ The lie was never about the word bitch, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation.
“I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.
“To add, Kanye as an artist has every right to document his musical journey and process, just like she recently did through her documentary.
“Kanye has documented the making of all of his albums for his personal archive, however has never released any of it for public consumption & the call between the two of them would have remained private or would have gone in the trash had she not lied & forced me to defend him.
This will be the last time I speak on this because honestly, nobody cares. Sorry to bore you all with this. I know you are all dealing with more serious and important matters,” she said.
In July 2016, West released a video for the song depicting him in bed alongside naked likenesses of many celebrities, including Swift. His wife, Kardashian West, then leaked snippets of footage recording a phone call between West and Swift in which she appeared to approve a lyric – albeit not ‘“I made that bitch famous” – and thanked him for giving her advance warning of the song’s existence.
Swift responded in a since-deleted Instagram post: “Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened, Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.”
Kardashian West doesn’t address whether her husband forwarded Swift the track, as promised in the recording, although her acknowledgement that “nobody ever denied the word ‘bitch’ was used without her permission” would indicate it was not sent.