The reported dispute between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift lasted years, but mostly seemed to focus on Katy’s misdeeds rather than Taylor’s. Although the origins of the feud are somewhat murky, it is rumored that Taylor (without naming names) disparaged her fellow singer by suggesting that unnamed “she” tried to hire a bunch of people under Swift during a tour.
But while many quotes from Katy hinted that the two were on bad terms, there were far fewer comments coming from Taylor’s camp. Looking back, it seemed like Katy had worked hard to either rekindle the feud or keep it going, long after Taylor was gone.
Although Taylor has a habit of writing about her exes, haters, critics, lovers, and everyone else, she never seemed to directly call out Katy Perry for their alleged issues.
Katy, however, seemed to enjoy stirring the pot. Fans thought Katy was throwing shade at Taylor when a american idol the contestant named the latter as his favorite singer.
But it didn’t stop there; When rumors of a collab between Taylor and Katy started making the rounds, Perry shut it down with another “rumors” jab.
Taylor, on the other hand, apparently did two things during the feud: talked about someone in the industry trying to steal artists from her (again, she didn’t name Perry) and released “Bad Blood”.
Taylor Swift Admittedly Doesn’t Get Along With Everyone
Taylor has had to defend herself against a lot of criticism over the years, but she also doesn’t get along with just anyone. She’s said to have had beef with Justin Bieber, Diplo, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and more.
When “Bad Blood” came out, there was tons of speculation about who Taylor wrote the song, but in classic Taylor style, she didn’t reveal who it was. In fact, she was quoted as saying that the person that fans thought the song was about the wrong person, Capital FM pointed out.
Taylor is reported to have said of the song, “I never said anything that pointed a finger in any particular person’s specific direction, and I can sleep at night knowing that.”
She even said that at the time she was on good terms with an ex-boyfriend so she didn’t want him to “think [she was] shooting him.” Thus, Swift noted, “I knew the song would be attributed to one person and the easiest mark was someone I didn’t want to see tagged with that song, that was not a song about heartbreak, it was about the loss of friendship.”
People have long assumed the song was about Katy, which Taylor seems to say isn’t the case.
But when Katy started trolling Taylor in the media, no one was necessarily surprised. What was surprising was how far Katy seemed to go in the feud, even without Taylor specifically naming her.
Katy was accused of ‘reigniting’ the feud
The original feud began around 2017, with Taylor not saying much about Katy except for the release of “Bad Blood”, which was widely rumored to be about Perry.
However, Taylor remained silent and never mentioned Katy by name in their “feud.” Over time, however, Perry continued to raise the issue and name Taylor, which many people criticized.
junkee commented, in a lengthy exposé on Katy’s many perceived missteps in music, that Perry was “desperately trying to rekindle their old feud” leading up to the release of her album Witness.
There was the 2018 Carpool Karaoke episode where Katy said she loved Taylor and “wanted[ed] the best for her.” After that, Swift had no comment, but posted “her entire discography on Spotify the day Witness has been freed.”
Katy (or her PR team) might have thought bringing Taylor back would create press, whether negative or positive. But it seems that if Taylor intended to show her nemesis, she succeeded; junkee noted that Witness didn’t come close to the performance of Taylor’s timely outings.
As for Katy, her career seemed to suffer somewhat during the feud as well as afterwards, for dissing Taylor but also for other behaviors that fans didn’t like.
Are Katy Perry and Taylor Swift on good terms today?
A few years ago, it looked like Katy’s career was on the decline, and some blamed that age-old feud with Taylor Swift. Going up against one of the most beloved cross-gender superstars on the planet probably isn’t a good idea, but Katy may have learned that the hard way.
Eventually, however, it looks like the two stars have mended the barriers.
They appeared in Taylor’s “You Need to Calm Down” video, and then Taylor sent Katy’s baby, Daisy, a hand-embroidered blanket. At that time, in 2020, it seemed like everything was Finally cool between the stars, although it seems clear, in retrospect, who really “won” the feud.
