Taylor Swift Puts Kim Kardashian, Kanye West on Blast for Infamous 2016 Phone Call

Taylor Swift isn’t holding back against Kim Kardashian and Kanye West as she looks back on their 2016 feud, saying that the incident surrounding the West’s “Famous” “took [her] down psychologically to a place [she’d] never been before.” The pop star, who was named TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year last week, told the outlet that when West and Kardashian released an edited, recorded phone call with Swift that led fans to believe she had approved a vulgar lyric about herself, it felt like “a career death.”

“Make no mistake – my career was taken away from me,” the Grammy winner told TIME of the incident, which led to her being branded a snake by fans who didn’t believe Swift’s denial that she had okayed West calling her a “b—.” She continued, “You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar.”

“That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before,” the “Bad Blood” singer continued. “I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.” Swift would go on to respond to the headline-making moment with her 2017 album Reputation, reclaiming the snake imagery along the way. But she continued to struggle with the critical response she received. 

“I thought that moment of backlash was going to define me negatively for the rest of my life,” Swift shared. Since then, the musician said she’s learned how to focus on her work and keep pushing through tough times as a professional. “I’m very careful to be grateful every second that I get to be doing this at this level, because I’ve had it taken away from me before,” she shared. “There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art.” The “Shake It Off” singer added, “But I’ve also learned there’s no point in actively trying to quote unquote defeat your enemies. Trash takes itself out every single time.”