By now, you might be aware that Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, features some apparent swipes at Kim Kardashian.
Many fans believe that Taylor’s song “thanK you aIMee,” which is notably stylized so that the capital letters spell KIM, is in reference to Kim’s treatment of the singer amid the infamous 2016 “snake-gate” feud.
To quickly recap: Taylor clashed with Kim and her then-husband, Kanye West, after the release of Ye’s controversial lyric in his song “Famous.” He rapped, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous” — with Taylor’s team claiming that she did not approve the line before it dropped.
Kim publicly accused Taylor of lying before infamously releasing footage of a phone call between Taylor and Ye, which appeared to show the singer approving the lyric. Hours before dropping the video on Snapchat, Kim added fuel to the fire by tweeting: “Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!? They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍.”
As a result, Taylor’s social media pages were flooded with snake emojis following the release of the phone call. Meanwhile, #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trended on X (formerly known as Twitter), and as a result of the backlash, she virtually disappeared from the public eye for a year.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Taylor and Ye’s full phone call was shared online, and the world learned Taylor had never actually approved of the “that bitch” lyric.
In the years since the feud erupted online, Taylor has publicly addressed the feud, calling Kim and Ye out for their “fully manufactured frame job.”
And so, it didn’t come as a surprise when fans speculated that “thanK you aIMee” had taken aim at Kim. You can read a full breakdown of the lyrics here.
Since “thanK you aIMee” was released, Kim has lost over 120,000 followers on Instagram, and her recent posts have been flooded with comments from Swifties.
Kim has not publicly addressed the apparent drama. However, fans are convinced that she subtly threw a little shade at the singer this week by posting a photo with Taylor’s ex-best friend Karlie Kloss.
For those who don’t know, Taylor and Karlie were super close for years, starting in 2014. However, toward the end of 2016, it seemed like the pair had fallen out. Years later, reports suggested that Karlie had shared private information about Taylor with Scooter Braun, who was her manager at the time — and Taylor eventually appeared to confirm this claim through pointed lyrics.
With this in mind, several fans interpreted Kim’s decision to post a throwback selfie with Karlie this week as a shady jab at Taylor.
The picture in question, which Kim shared on her Instagram story, features Karlie, Khloé Kardashian, W magazine editor-in-chief Sara Moonves, and fashion editor Derek Blasberg. It was originally posted by Karlie in December 2022.
Honoring Derek’s birthday this week, Kim shared a bunch of photos with him, one of which was the selfie featuring Karlie. And it didn’t take long for fans to start speculating that Kim had purposefully chosen a photo with Karlie to make a jab at Taylor.
"I cant believe kim posted this i need to sit down with someone well versed in the taylor swift cinematic universe this has LAYERS," someone else wrote.
Meanwhile, others defended Kim, suggesting that the move might’ve been totally innocent. “Its literally a birthday post for the guy in the middle! not everything is to spite taylor,” one tweet read.