Friends or Enemies? Inside Taylor Swift and Kanye West's Relationship
Swift's Grammy speech seemed aimed at West after release of his song "Famous."
— -- Looks like Taylor Swift and Kanye West are at it again.
On Monday night, Swift accepted the Grammy for album of the year and offered up some pointed remarks that seemed aimed directly at West, though she did not mention him by name.
"As the first woman to win album of the year at the Grammy's twice, I want to say to all the young women out there: there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame," Swift said near the close of the show.
"But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going. You’ll look around and you’ll know it was you and the people who love you who put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world."
Swift's remarks follow the recent release of West's new song "Famous," in which he boasts that he and Swift "might still have sex" because he made her "famous."
After the lyrics were made public last week, Swift put out a statement through her publicist, but hadn't yet commented publicly.
The publicist's statement to ABC News said that "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single 'Famous' on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong, misogynistic message.”
By early Tuesday morning, West, who had earlier tweeted that he meant no disrespect to Swift, seemed to be calling for a truce. "All positive energy," he tweeted.
All positive energy
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 16, 2016
It's just the latest in their bizarre, complicated relationship, which dates back to 2009. Here's a quick look back:
2009
West stormed the stage at MTV’s Video Music Awards just as Swift was collecting her award for best female video. West took the mic from 17-year-old Swift, shouting, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'll let you finish, but Beyonce has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!" He then shrugged and walked offstage, leaving a stunned Beyonce, a booing audience and a speechless and visibly emotional Swift on stage.
The rapper apologized on his blog later that night, writing, "I'm not crazy ya'll. I'm just real. Sorry for that!!!!" He followed up with another written apology: "That was Taylor's moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry."
2015 Grammys
More than five years after West famously interrupted Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards, the rapper and country-pop superstar were seen cozying up after West jokingly rushed the stage again, this time after Beck won for album of the year.
"Me and Kanye are on such good terms now, six years later," Swift told NME in October 2015. "It took a while... But I had to tell Beck this story earlier. I was at dinner with Kanye a week after the Grammys, he stops what he's saying and he goes, ‘What is this song? I need to listen to this every day.’ I said, ‘It's Beck, it's on an album called 'Morning Phase', I think you've heard of it...’ We just burst out laughing. And he says, ‘Hey, sometimes I'm wrong.’"
2015 MTV VMAs
The new best buds returned to the VMA stage in 2015, this time with Swift presenting West with the Video Vanguard Award. Swift remained on stage during West's 10-minute speech, in which he spoke openly about the guilt he felt about the 2009 incident.
Now, after her Grammy speech and his "all positive energy" quip, it's not certain whether these two can put their friendship back together again.
