• Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian West are, once again, trading barbs about Kanye West’s single “Famous” and its controversial lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b—- famous.”
  • The feud was reignited when a new video leaked on Saturday, which seems to show the full phone conversation between Swift and West when they discussed the song back in 2016.
  • Kardashian West had previously released choice clips from the conversation, and Swift appears to feel vindicated by the unedited transcript.
  • Kardashian West, however, maintains that Swift is “lying” and “the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.”
  • Here’s a full breakdown of everything that’s happened since the video mysteriously surfaced online.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Plenty of context is required to understand why Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian West, and Kanye West are back in the news this week – especially since, technically, none of them did anything new to cause it.

On Saturday, a video leaked online that seems to show the full 2016 phone call between Swift and West, when they discussed his song “Famous” before its release. That call was the core of Swift’s mass shaming and pre-“Reputation” disappearance, but until now, the public had only heard choice clips from the conversation that were released by Kardashian West via Snapchat.

Swift and her fans appear to feel vindicated by the newly surfaced, unedited transcript. Kardashian West, however, maintains that Swift is “lying” and “the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.”

Here’s a complete breakdown of everything you need to know to understand the reignited feud.

Until now, the public had only heard about three minutes of the 25-minute phone call.

Back in 2016, Swift fans were furious when West name-dropped the pop star on his new album: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b---- famous."

Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, quickly responded with a statement: "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single 'Famous' on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that b---- famous.'"

http://instagr.am/p/BBrLwNwMg7v

West refuted this statement with a thread on Twitter: "I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings," he wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

West also wrote, "B---- is an endearing term in hip hop," and even claimed that Swift herself had come up with the idea for the line, "I made that b---- famous."

Months later, after the duo exchanged many snide remarks in speeches and interviews, Kardashian West posted short clips of that very "convo" on Snapchat. The three-minute compilation shows West in his studio talking to Swift on the phone, asking for her blessing to release the song.

Kardashian West's footage shows the rapper reading Swift the original line, "I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex," which she approvingly described as "obviously very tongue-in-cheek." None of the clips showed any reference to the "b----" lyric.

Shortly after, the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty began trending on Twitter. Swift's comments on social media were flooded with snake emojis.

Again, Swift released a statement that specifically condemned West's use of the phrase "that b----."

"Where in the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that b----' in his song? 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," Swift wrote in a now-deleted post. "Of course I wanted to like the song. I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song."

On Saturday, a video of the full conversation mysteriously leaked online.

A 25-minute video of West on the phone with Swift surfaced on YouTube, which appears to show their conversation in its entirety.

It's still unclear where the video came from and who released it, but it quickly began to circulate on social media and inspired the hashtag #KanyeWestIsOverParty.

https://twitter.com/melodramasummer/status/1241209302087544839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The new video paints a more comprehensive picture of the conversation, its content, and its tone - as opposed to Kardashian West's compilation of clips, which jumped around and only featured choice snippets of dialogue.

It's now clear that West never told Swift about the specific line in question, "I made that b---- famous." In fact, at one point, Swift tells West that she would feel uncomfortable if he called her a "b----" in the song.

"I mean, I need to think about it, because you know, when you hear something for the first time, you just need to think about it," she tells him. "I'm glad it's not mean, though. It doesn't feel mean. But oh my god, the buildup you gave it, I thought it was going to be like, 'That stupid, dumb b----.' But it's not."

Swift also seemed uncomfortable with West asking her to help him promote the song, and declined to release "Famous" from her own Twitter account.

"I mean, the launch thing, I think it would be kind of confusing to people," she continues. "But I definitely like… I definitely think that when I'm asked about it, of course I'll be like, 'Yeah, I love that. I think it's hilarious.' But, um, I need to think about it."

Later in the call, West suggests that he might add the line, "I made her famous." Swift responds with a very apprehensive tone: "Well, what am I going to do about it?"

https://twitter.com/flower__swift/status/1241479704969916425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"I mean… Um… It's just kind of like, whatever, at this point," she continues. "But I mean, you've got to tell the story the way that it happened to you and the way that you've experienced it. Like, you honestly didn't know who I was before that. Like, it doesn't matter if I sold 7 million of that album ["Fearless"] before you did that, which is what happened. You didn't know who I was before that. It's fine. But, um, yeah. I can't wait to hear it."

The call ends with Swift asking West to send her the finished song, which she maintains never happened.

After the video leaked, Swift and Kardashian West reacted by liking fans' posts on social media

Monday morning, two days after the leak, neither Swift nor Kardashian West had made public statements about the new development. Instead, both women subtly revealed where they stood by liking fans' posts on social media.

Swift, who is very active on Tumblr and often interacts with fans on the site, has liked a slew of posts that show "Swifties" feeling vindicated.

https://swiftthisway.tumblr.com/post/613262753050787840

"And that is how you let Karma take care of itself," one post reads, alongside a gif of Swift looking satisfied.

"WHO WAS TELLING THE TRUTH THE ENTIRE TIME???" reads another, alongside a photo of Swift pointing at herself.

https://tw0-paper-airplanes-flying.tumblr.com/post/613252127887966208

Swift also liked a BuzzFeed headline that argues, "Everyone Owes Taylor Swift An Apology," among others, including a fan-made "Taylor told the truth mood board."

For her part, Kardashian West didn't appear to feel moved or incriminated by the full video.

The reality star liked a tweet that reads, "The video showed nothing new. We all knew that. I'm so confused right now."

https://twitter.com/kimkwestlegion/status/1241459251635261441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Monday evening, Swift broke her silence and reiterated that she was 'telling the truth the whole time'

Swift addressed the phone call in a statement posted to her Instagram story, which read as both a victory lap and an appeal to focus on "what really matters."

"Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked, proving 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."

taylor swift instagram story

Foto: Swift encouraged her fans to donate to the World Health Organization and Feeding America. Source: @taylorswift/Instagram

Swift's "swipe up" linked to a donation page for the Feeding America non-profit organization.

"The World Health Organization and Feeding America are some of the organizations I've been donating to. If you have the ability to, please join me in donating during this crisis," Swift wrote in a second post on her Instagram story.

Early Tuesday morning, Kardashian West maintained her husband's innocence in a string of nine tweets

Kardashian West began by tagging Swift on Twitter, writing that she "has chosen to reignite an old exchange" that "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," she continued.

"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," Kardashian West wrote. "Nobody ever denied the word 'b----' was used without her permission."

Kardashian West claimed the song hadn't been "fully written" when the two musicians spoke on the phone. She also accused Swift of "manipulating the truth of their actual conversation" with her publicist's original statement.

"The lie was never about the word b----, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation," she wrote.

Kardashian West also claimed that she "never edited the footage."

"I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn't change the narrative."

The SKIMS creator also responded to Swift's claim that West recorded their conversation illegally, arguing that he "has every right to document his musical journey and process."

"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," she wrote. "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."

Swift's publicist quickly shut down Kardashian West's claims

Throughout her thread on Twitter, Kardashian West said her main issue was that Swift denied she ever spoke to West on the phone - but Swift's original statement proves otherwise.

Indeed, Swift's publicist responded to Kardashian West by re-posting the exact statement she released to the media back in 2016.

"I'm Taylor's publicist and this is my UNEDITED original statement," Paine wrote. "Btw, when you take parts out, that's editing."

She added: "P.S. who did you guys piss off to leak that video?"

This time around, it looks like the internet is siding with Swift

Amid all this back-and-forth, people have continued to criticize Kardashian West for cherry-picking clips of the conversation, choosing to leave out moments that would've painted Swift in a more sympathetic light.

https://twitter.com/Falsegod_97/status/1242303932912644097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/popligion/status/1241493017938149376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/outsoldurfaves/status/1242327007532175360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw