Kim Kardashian has posted a video of the conversation in which Taylor Swift approved her inclusion in Kanye West's song "Famous." Swift had previously denied having given the OK for her name to be mentioned in the song, and now claims that she wasn't told about the specific line that refers to her as a "bitch."
Kardashian posted the video to her Snapchat account, proving that there was in fact a long and cordial conversation between her husband and Swift regarding the inclusion of the pop star in the song. The two had famously clashed in 2009 when West stormed the stage in protest of Swift's winning the MTV Music Video of the Year award, grabbing the microphone and ranting about how the award should have been given to Beyoncé instead.
That moment was so highly publicized and painted Swift in such a sympathetic light that many credit West for inadvertently helping her career jump to the next level. That's what Kanye is clearly implying in the song from his recently released The Life of Pablo collection that states, "I made that bitch famous."
The Snapchat video depicts a cordial conversation between the two stars, in which Swift effusively thanks West for giving her the heads up about the song.
"It's obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that's really nice." Later she adds, "I never would've expect you to tell me about a line in your song ... right after the song comes out I'm gonna be on a Grammy red carpet and they're gonna ask me about it and I'm gonna be like, 'He called me.'"
When the song was finally released, Swift had a much different reaction than the one she promised. She instead released a statement condemning the line and Kanye's mistreatment of women. West tweeted in response that he had run the song by Swift, who had approved it, and although his wife Kim Kardashian had previously stated that there was recorded proof of that conversation, Swift's lawyers warned the couple about releasing it without Swift's permission.
Kardashian decided to go ahead and post the conversation on Snapchat anyway, and Swift soon responded on Instagram, claiming that she was never told about the specific line that would refer to her as "that bitch," and that West had also promised that he would play her the song when it was completed, although he never did.
While that all remains plausible, the big question is why Swift had never previously acknowledged that the two had any sort of conversation about the song whatsoever, until it was proven with the recorded footage.
Some observers have also questioned the legality of West's recording of the conversation — it appears that Swift was aware that there were others listening in on the exchange (producer Rick Rubin chimes in several times from the background) — it is not covered by California's privacy laws, and therefore Swift cannot sue West for damages.
