Truth About Taylor Swift's Many Feuds

9:00 pm, January 25, 2021

Taylor Swift in a sparkling mirrored dress, with her left hand on her hip. — (Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com)

Taylor Swift has remained one of the most popular and iconic pop stars of the 21st century. With fame often comes backlash, however, as tabloids do not hesitate to bash the star at every opportunity. Since she’s so famous, tabloids enjoy promoting feuds, some valid and some not, involving Swift and her contemporaries. Here are some of these rivalries Gossip Cop has studied.

Swift Versus Jennifer Lawrence?

Back in 2018 Jennifer Lawrence jokingly asked Karlie Kloss if Lawrence and Swift were still friends. NW took this innocent comment and ran with it, claiming Swift was declaring war on the Hunger Games star. A so-called source said, “It won’t be hard for Taylor to score some pretty embarrassing secrets or gossip if she chooses to retaliate.” There were plenty of “anecdotes of drunk behavior” and “embarrassing stuff she may have done to get up the fame ladder” for Swift to use as revenge. If this sounds like lunacy, that’s because it is. Swift has no beef with Lawrence, and a spokesperson exclusively assured Gossip Cop that this story was total nonsense.

Katy Perry Blames The Media

For a few years, Katy Perry versus Taylor Swift was the hot rivalry. There was drama involving back-up dancers oscillating between Perry and Swift which led to a legitimate rivalry between the two stars. The two later squashed the beef, and Perry told Howard Stern about how the media played a role in blowing the conflict out of proportion. She said:

“Gossip in life can take the elevator but the truth takes the stairs. It just takes time”

Perry also added that there was a double standard for women in the music industry, for “You never see, like, articles about Ed Sheehan and Justin Bieber in a fight or Shawn Mendes and Niall Horan in a fight.” There was real tension between Perry and Swift which lingered for years, but now only friendship remains.

Bad Blood With Harry Styles?

Swift dated former One Direction member Harry Styles briefly in 2012, but the memory of their dating days has lasted far longer than the romance. It’s widely believed that Swift penned “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” about the Dunkirk star, but tabloids apparently didn’t hear that sentiment. The two are still stalked by rumors that they’ll either get back together or still secretly hate each other. Styles has only been complimentary toward Swift, saying being a muse “doesn’t upset me… I think it’s flattering. Even if the song isn’t that flattering, you’ve still spent time on it and, ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she’s a great songwriter.” Both have long since moved on to new frontiers.

Kanye West Taking Swift’s Side Against Scooter Braun

Scooter Braun, once known mostly as the man who discovered Justin Bieber, is one of the most powerful producers in the music industry. In 2020, he purchased, and later sold, Swift’s master recordings of her entire back catalog. Swift publicly fought the transaction and has vowed to rerecord her own music so he wouldn’t see any royalties. An unexpected voice took Swift’s side in this conflict: Kanye West. West, who has feuded with Swift for over a decade now, tweeted “I’M GOING TO PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT TAYLOR SWIFT GETS HER MASTERS BACK.” West has endured his own issues with the record industry, so it seems adversity really does make strange bedfellows.