Taylor Swift has smashed records with her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, from single-week vinyl sales to single-day Spotify album streams. The launch of TTPD also reignited her long-running feud with Kim Kardashian. While the pair have been well-known frenemies over the years, it appeared tensions had calmed. That is until Swift dropped her latest album featuring the song "thanK you aIMee," which with its capitalized letters spells out Kim. In the song Swift sings about a high school bully which everyone suspects is a diss at Kim. And now Kardashian has clapped back by posting a photo of her posing next to model Karlie Kloss, who was once a bestie of Swift's.
So now we have the Kim Kardashian/Taylor Swift/Karlie Kloss feud. First, a little background. The bad blood between Kardashian and Swift began in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards when Kardashian's then-husband Ye (Kayne West) interrupted Swift on stage as she was about to accept her award for Music Video of the Year, grabbing the microphone to rant that it was Beyoncé who should have won instead. Things went from bad to worse when in 2017 the rapper released a song featuring derogatory lyrics about Swift, including the line "I made that b*tch famous." West said Swift approved the song ahead of its release and this is where Kardashian joins the fray. KK released an edited version of the phone call where West shares only part of the song with Swift who gives West the green light. Talk about pouring gasoline on a raging fire.
In response to all the speculation around "thanK you aIMee," this week Kardashian posted an old picture to her Instagram Stories of her and Kloss. Mean girl alert. Kloss used to be an active member of Swift's squad— the besties even appeared on the cover of Vogue together— before they reported fell out in 2018.
How close were Swift and Kloss? They took a road trip together in March 2014 where Swift lovingly wrote their names in the sand. In December of that year, Swift held hands with Kloss as the singer performed during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (remember those?). Plus, Kloss appeared alongside other squad members at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. The two even showed their love for one another on a Vogue cover in February 2015.
So why did things turn sour? No one knows for sure. In January 2018, Kloss didn't promote Swift's single "Look What You Made Me Do." Then there was the dinner with Katy Perry, Vanity Fair writer Derek Blasberg and Jennifer Meyer that may have ruffled a few feathers. (Although the Perry beef is supposedly resolved currently.) Kloss did stop by Nashville to see Swift during the Reputation Tour. Cut to October 2018 when Kloss confessed to Vogue that she and Swift were still close. But Swift did not attend Kloss' wedding to Joshua Kushner. The model was also spotted on Instagram with Swift's former manager Scooter Braun.
Is your head hurting yet from all this back and forth? Hold on because things are about to get bumpy. Kloss was captured at Swift's Los Angeles Eras Tour show in August 2023. In conclusion, who the hell knows what's going on.
