Just one day after Kanye West gave 18,000 fans the first listen to his new album at a fashion event in New York, he’s already defending his work — specifically, one song mentioning “that bitch” Taylor Swift.
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? Because I made that bitch famous,” the rapper says on “Life of Pablo” track “Famous.”
West said Friday that the slur was actually meant as an “endearing term,” and Swift “gave her blessings,” but the pop star’s spokesperson has said otherwise.
“Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account,” Swift’s rep told Entertainment Weekly. “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 bitch famous.’”
West took to Twitter to share his version of events.
“I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her,” he tweeted, adding that he “called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.”
“I’m not even gone take credit for the idea… it’s actually something Taylor came up with … She was having dinner with one of our friends who’s name I will keep out of this and she told him … I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous!” West wrote.
The line is probably referring to the now infamous moment where West went up on stage while Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video at the 2009 Video Music Awards.
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’mma let you finish,” he famously said as Swift stood nearby in shock, “but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.”
Swift’s rep has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for additional comment, but the singer’s brother, Austin, took to Instagram to post his opinion. “Getting a head start on some spring cleaning. Here we go again,” he captioned a video showing him throwing out his Yeezy shoes.
See Kanye’s tweets below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBqnIZbjqPV/
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698145869720371200
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146073190252545
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146205688320000
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146344242958336
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146450581164032
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146619703824384
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146866098278400
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698146943927787522
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147169182810112
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147292637954048
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147360568930304
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147489057218560
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147598729875457
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147710948503552
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698147868151050240