Taylor Swift–Kanye West feud

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the American rapper Kanye West have been involved in highly publicized disputes since September 2009, when Swift won the MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best Female Video for "You Belong With Me" (2009) at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and West interrupted her acceptance speech. The "feud" between Swift and West has been one of the most widely covered and debated topics on the internet.

When West interrupted Swift's speech, he took the microphone and claimed that Beyoncé's music video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008) is one of the greatest videos of all time. Swift left the stage amidst booing, which she thought was aimed at her. Later in the evening, Beyoncé invited Swift to complete her speech after winning Video of the Year for "Single Ladies". West was widely criticized on television and media outlets, and he later apologized and recanted multiple times. Critics interpreted Swift's 2010 song "Innocent" as sympathizing with West. The two eventually became amiable over the years. Swift presented West with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and parodied the 2009 incident. West, who had personally asked Swift to present the award, implied in his acceptance speech that MTV had her present the award to him to increase the show's viewership, which upset Swift.

In 2016, West released his single "Famous", in which he referred to Swift as a "bitch" that he made famous. Swift protested the pejorative but West claimed he obtained prior approval of the lyrics from Swift, which she denied. The music video for "Famous" showcased naked wax sculptures of Swift amongst other celebrities; Swift stated she did not consent to it, calling it "revenge porn". Kim Kardashian, who was West's wife at the time, released trimmed video clips of a phone conversation which appeared to show Swift approving the lyrics, following which Swift was widely criticized on various media. In 2017, after a social media blackout, Swift responded with the single "Look What You Made Me Do" from her album Reputation, which was partly inspired by the negative press she received. The track "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" also appeared to diss West.

The full video recording of the phone call between West and Swift leaked online in 2020, revealing Swift had approved to be name-dropped but was not informed about the lyrics and the pejorative used, and that Kardashian has edited the clip favorably. In 2024, West released the single "Carnival", which contained sexually suggestive lyrics about Swift, and the track "Lifestyle", which referenced Swift and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Swift also aimed at Kardashian in the track "Thank You Aimee" (2024). Throughout the 2020s, West made several claims about Swift, sometimes derogatory, on Instagram and Twitter (X).