“A Fully Manufactured Frame Job”: Taylor Swift Dishes on Psychological Trauma Suffered from Kanye West Feud

Named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, Taylor Swift decided to sit down with the publication and discuss her prosperous career, including both the highs and lows of being famous. While she currently tours the world and nurtures a relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce, it wasn’t always great to be Swift. On Wednesday, the singer recalled one of the bleakest moments of her career, pointing to her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. 

Although many remember the moment West stormed onto the VMA stage in 2009 to take the mic from Swift, who was giving her acceptance speech, she focused more on the 2016 song “Famous.” In the song, written by West, he said, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that b**ch famous.” While the song gained popularity around the time, Swift insisted on not knowing or consenting to the lyrics. West said otherwise. 

Swift Labeled A “Snake”

After denying the claims from West, Kardashian released a recording of Swift and the rapper, seeming to imply Swift gave her blessing and permission. To make it worse, Kardashian labeled the singer a “snake.” 

Feeling the backlash mounting around her, Swift worried about the industry canceling her. With rumors circulating, the star decided to move to another country where she revealed she “didn’t leave a rental house for a year.” 

Besides moving away, Swift explained how the attacks from West and Kardashian, which she labeled “a fully manufactured frame job,” caused her to push people away. “I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore.” She continued, “I went down really, really hard.”

[RELATED: Taylor Swift Breaks Silence on Travis Kelce Relationship]

Eventually coming back to music with Reputation in 2017, Swift has a new outlook on fame and the possibility of backlash. “I’ve been raised up and down the flagpole of public opinion so many times in the last 20 years. I’ve been given a tiara, then had it taken away.”

Remembering What Paul McCarthy Gave Her

While Swift claimed to have her career “taken away”, the star proved she is in control of her own destiny as she continues to produce hits and entertain fans all over the world. And if she ever questions herself, she revisits a note from Paul McCartney, reading the “Blackbird” lyrics, “Take these broken wings and learn to fly.”

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)