Taylor Swift, Katy Perry Feud Timeline: Did Taylor Release Songs On Spotify To Sabotage Katy’s Witness Album?
From mad love to bad blood, the Taylor Swift and Katy Perry feud continues to heat up, especially as Swift released her entire song portfolio on Spotify on the same day as Perry dropped her new album Witness. Was it deliberately done to sabotage Witness or was it pure coincidence?
How Taylor Swift and Katy Perry became mortal enemies has a long and complex history. Why are Katy Perry and Taylor Swift fighting? Here’s a timeline of the Taylor Swift and Katy Perry feud.
2009
Around this time, Swift was still enjoying the success of her Fearless album which spawned two massive hits: “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me.” The latter was released on April 18, just days after Perry dropped “Waking Up in Vegas” on April 7 of the same year.
It was clear then that Swift had nothing but love for Perry and was willing to share the spotlight with her. She even tweeted that she loved Perry, to which the “Roar” singer suggested that they collaborate on a song together soon.
In October, Perry celebrated her 25th birthday with a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-themed party. Swift was among the attendees and she even complimented Perry for throwing a great party, dubbing it the “best EVER.”
@taylorswift13 You’re as sweet as pie! Let’s write a song together about the subject we know best… for my new record. It’ll be brilliant~
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 6, 2009
Swift and Perry had an affectionate and supportive relationship from 2009 to 2011. Interestingly, Swift became romantically linked with singer John Mayer in 2010 and it is thought that her song “Dear John” was written about him.
2012
Perry began dating Mayer in 2012, shortly after she ended her marriage with actor Russell Brand. Taylor didn’t seem to have an issue with this, but 2012 was the year things fell off course for the Swift-Perry love train.
During this year, Swift embarked on a world tour to promote her Red album. One of the dancers on Swift’s concert, Lockhart Brownlie, claimed that Perry’s people reached out to him and two other dancers asking them if they would like to join Perry’s Prism world tour. All three agreed, meaning they had to leave Taylor’s tour before it wrapped.
Brownlie explained that he had a much closer relationship with Perry, hence his decision. He added that they weren’t doing much dancing in Taylor’s tour and he “got a little bored.” Brownlie also commented on what it was like working with Swift, whom he described as “untouchable.”
“Taylor is very untouchable. When we did see her, we had so much fun with her, but she’s a lot more protected than Katy,” Brownlie told the Examiner. “Katy’s 28 now and can do her own thing. Her team [is] so lovely, so we have such a good connection. And this time around she is a lot more in control.”
Although Swift didn’t comment on their decision to transfer, she stopped following the dancers on Twitter and they were effectively removed from the tour.
2014
Rumors of a Taylor Swift and Katy Perry feud became all the more prominent in 2014, when Swift said in a Rolling Stone interview that her song “Bad Blood” speaks about a conflict she has with a well-known artist, whom she referred to as “straight-up enemies.”
“She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it.”
Swift clarified that the feud had nothing to do with a guy, and was in fact purely about business.
Shortly after the 2014 Rolling Stone interview came out, Perry took to Twitter and wrote, “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing,” in reference to the cold-hearted antagonist portrayed by Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls.
2015
Swift continued to take a jab at Perry in 2015, who famously performed with dancing sharks during her “Teenage Dream” stage at the Super Bowl halftime. One of the dancers, dubbed “left shark,” quickly became an internet sensation, and Swift picked up on this for her 1989 Tour in Foxborough, Massachusetts where a dancer dressed in a shark costume made a cameo appearance.
2016
The Taylor Swift and Katy Perry feud was once again brought to the spotlight by none other than Calvin Harris, fresh from his break up with Swift.
“I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it,” Harris wrote. The tweet has since been deleted.
2017
Perry finally opened up about the issue directly on James Corden’s Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Special, where she revealed that she tried to make peace with the “Blank Space” singer.
She said that she tried to talk to Swift about their issues, but the latter didn’t want to speak to her. “It was a full shutdown and then she writes a song about me,” Perry added.
Things don’t seem to simmer down between Swift and Perry. Speaking to NME, Perry accused Swift of character assassination, saying she tried to sabotage her image to young fans.
“I’m not Buddha – things irritate me. I wish that I could turn the other cheek every single time, but I’m also not a pushover, you know? Especially when someone tries to assassinate my character with little girls [their respective fan groups]. That’s so messed up!
Finally, on the same day Katy Perry released her Witness album, Swift made all her music available on Spotify and other streaming services. Swift’s representatives announced that the release was Swift’s “thank you” to fans for having 1989 sell over 10 million copies worldwide.
Many on social media, however, think otherwise. Many believe this was a clear sabotage on Perry Witness release. In recall, Swift pulled out all her songs from streaming services in 2015 as she was “not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.”
Will Taylor Swift and Katy Perry ever settle the score? Only time can tell. For now, it appears that there’s now backing down for both ladies.
[Featured Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
