The longtime feud between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry has been one of the most public celebrity beefs in recent years, even inspiring the popular song, “Bad Blood,” by Swift. Many were shocked when Perry and Swift appeared together in the music video for Swift’s newest song, “You Need to Calm Down,” however, Swift explained that the two have been on good terms for some time.
In Swift’s newest song, she calls out homophobia, as well as negativity in general. In addition to featuring many LGBTQ celebrities in her music video for the song, she included Perry in the video’s close, depicting their reconciliation. Many were unaware until viewing this music video that the two were friends again.
Swift told BBC Radio 1 that she and Perry had made amends after a kind gesture made by Perry the opening night of Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour. Perry sent Swift a literal olive branch along with a “beautiful note.”
The beef initially started in 2014 when Swift told Rolling Stone about her inspiration for the song, “Bad Blood.”
“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not. She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'”
“She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.’ And it wasn’t even about a guy. It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me.”
Perry responded subtly via Twitter, stating, “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…”
As for the current status of Swift and Perry’s relationship, Swift explained to BBC Radio 1 that following the gesture from Perry, the two had been on good terms, however it was when they connected at a party that the two revived their friendship.
“When we saw each other, it was just very clear to both of us that everything was different, that we had grown up, and that we had grown past allowing ourselves to be pitted against each other, and it just was very, very clear that we remembered how much we had in common. So, both of us have been in a really good place for a while, but I don’t think either of us really knew if we were ever going to talk about it publicly.”
As far as how the idea arose to announce their reconciliation publicly, Swift explained, “when I thought of this concept for the video, and I wrote the treatment, I thought of this idea and I thought, ‘You know what, I’m just going to ask her if she would be interested in this and I would totally be fine if she’d rather keep it private and keep it between us,’ but I sent it to her and she said, ‘I would love for us to be a symbol of redemption and forgiveness.’ And, I feel the same way about it.”
Swift explained that the idea to dress as a burger and fries came after Perry’s Jeremy Scott Met Gala outfit, in which she was dressed as a burger.
Swift explained, “if it’s too like us wearing normal clothes and hugging it won’t really fit into this video, because this video is very wacky and very surreal and fun and playful. So, I was like, ‘Can we do a burger and fries as a metaphor for two people who belong together? Like two people who are like a perfect pair? And she thought it was really funny, and so we did it.”
Photo Source: Today Show, Taylor Swift’s Instagram, E! News
