NEWSTaylor Swift 'Moved to a Foreign Country' and 'Didn't Leave the House for a Year' After 2016 Feud With Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Taylor Swift felt anything but fearless when her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West imploded in 2016.
In a new interview, the blonde beauty recalled the chaotic incident in which the reality star leaked a conversation that made it seem as though Swift approved of West's lyrics despite her publicly claiming otherwise.
'TIME' named Taylor Swift as their 'Person of the Year.'
"You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar," the Grammy winner, 33, recalled to TIME for her Person of the Year cover story. "That took me down psychologically to a place I've never been before."
At the time, the rapper's "Famous" lyrics read, "I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have s--/ Why? I made that b---- famous."
Taylor Swift recalled the aftermath of her Kimye feud in a new interview.
In the phone call Kardashian, 43, shared, it seemed as though the songwriter was OK with the lyrics, but Swift stated the full context of the convo wasn't shared. Years later, the full, unedited edition of the call was released, proving Swift's claims to be true.
Still, there was a time frame when haters believed the "Karma" crooner was lying to the public, leading her to a dark place.
Swift went into hiding after some people took Kimye's side.
"I moved to a foreign country. I didn't leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls," she confessed of the aftermath. "I pushed away most people in my life because I didn't trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard."
"Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me," the superstar insisted.
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As fans know all too well, the father-of-four and Swift have a long history dating back to 2009, when he interrupted her VMAs victory speech and declared Beyoncé was more deserving of the win.
West, 46, eventually apologized for the incident and sent her flowers, and it seemed they mended ties until he dropped his "Famous" track.
Kardashian filed for divorce from West in early 2021.
The Chicago native was still married to ex-wife Kardashian at the time, so she tried to defend her man by releasing the edited version of the phone call. West then shocked the public when he included a naked lifelike rendering of Swift's body in the accompanying music video.
The Cats star replied by releasing a message on social media.
"Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that b----' in his song?" she asked. "It doesn't exist because it never happened. You don't get to control someone's emotional response to being called 'that b----' in front of the entire world."
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The mother-of-four then started referring to Swift as a snake — something the music icon flipped on its head to promote her successful 2017 album, Reputation. She even referred to her fractured relationship with West in the track "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things," where she laughed at the idea of ever forgiving him.
