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Taylor Swift has retitled one of her songs in an apparent dig at Kanye West.
Earlier this week, the singer – who is currently in London for the second stint of her Wembley shows – released a retitled version of her diss track “thanK you aIMee”.
The song, taken from her latest release The Tortured Poets Department, was interpreted by fans as a dig at Kim Kardashian, with the capitalised letters of its title spelling out “KIM”.
On a new digital version of The Tortured Poets Department album, made available on her website earlier this week, the track has been retitled: “thank You aimEe.”
The capital letters in the song title now spell out “Ye”, likely a reference to the rapper Kanye West, the rapper and ex-husband of Kardashian who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021.
Swift performed the song as part of a mash-up together with her 2010 track “Mean” at one of her Eras Tour shows at Wembley Stadium this July.
The subtle title change came days after Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department secured its 14th week at No 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, blocking West’s new album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 2, from reaching the top spot.
Swift’s feud with the rapper is long-standing. It began in 2009 when West famously stormed the stage at the VMAs when Swift won the prize for Best Female Video, as he protested that Beyoncé deserved the award instead.
They encountered one another again in 2014 at the Vanguard Award at the VMAs. Appearing to show that any animosity was quashed, it was Swift who presented him with the prize. However, in a later interview, Swift claimed that the pair didn’t speak backstage.
She told Rolling Stone: “I’m standing in the audience with my arm around his wife, and this chill ran through my body.
“I realised he is so two-faced. That he wants to be nice to me behind the scenes, but then he wants to look cool, get up in front of everyone and talk s***. And I was so upset. He wanted me to come talk to him after the event in his dressing room. I wouldn’t go.”
In 2016, West released his song “Famous”, which featured the lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex/ Why? I made that b**** famous.”
West and Kardashian leaked a phone call that appeared to show Swift approving to have her name used in the song, which the “Dear John” singer denied.
Swift’s team immediately denied the claims in a statement, claiming that West had not run the lyrics past Taylor, but had instead asked her to promote the song: “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.’”
This led many to brand Swift as a “snake” and this backlash led to the pop star taking a hiatus from the public eye. “My career was taken away from me,” Swift told Time in an interview for her Person of the Year 2023 award.
Swift is back in London until Tuesday 20 August for the second stint of her Wembley shows. The Grammy-winner surprised fans earlier this week as she made a reference to her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn on stage.
