The ongoing war of words between Taylor Swift, Kim Karsashian and her husband Kayne West would usually not be worth paying attention to. But it unfolded entirely on two fairly new social platforms, leaving traditional media mere observers, and allowing each side to make their argument to fans without any of the usual filters.
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In recent days Taylor Swift very publicly expressed her disapproval of Kayne West’s lyrics about her in his song “Famous,” even as West maintained that she pre-approved it.
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, Why? I made that bitch famous.”- Kayne West’s Famous
As proof of Swift’s pre-approval, West’s wife, Kim Kardashian posted a Snapchat video last night of a private phone call between Swift and the rapper, during which see seemingly approved at least part of the lyric.
“I just really appreciate it,” Ms. Swift says Swift in the video. “I never would have expected you to tell me about a line in your song.”
“Relationships,” West replies, “are more important than punch lines.”
Here is the video:
Here is the entire conversation Taylor & Kanye had, judge for yourself. pic.twitter.com/InTjvPGKe3
— ShadyPopMusic (@ShadyPopMusic) July 18, 2016
Later in the evening Swift replied on Instagram.
“I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song,” wrote Swift. “He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.”
Bring Back The Gatekeepers
The elimination of all gatekeepers was one of the great promises of the digital age. Kim, Kayne and Taylor have each used social media to create their own direct channels with tens of millions of fans; and they use them masterfully.
But last night, I found myself missing those old school filters and fences.