Taylor Swift has admitted a 2016 feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West placed a huge strain on her mental health.
The ‘Shake it Off’ singer and Kanye West have had a love-hate relationship ever since the latter infamously stormed the stage to protest Swift winning the ‘Best Female’ award over Beyoncé at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
By 2016 their relationship had completely disintegrated after Swift claimed West had failed to consult her about putting a naked effigy of the pop star in his ‘Famous’ music video — Kim Kardashian West responded by posting up a video clip of a private phone conversation that her husband and Swift had, which the reality TV star said proved Swift gave her consent.
As a result of the phone call leak, Swift has now revealed that she was viciously targeted by trolls online. “A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,” she explained in a new interview with Vogue for their famed September issue.
She continued: “I don’t think there are that many people who can actually understand what it’s like to have millions of people hate you very loudly. When you say someone is canceled, it’s not a TV show. It’s a human being. You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, Kill yourself.”
The phone call leak resulted in thousands of Kim and Kanye fans referring to Swift as a ‘snake’ on social media, and had she not channelled this difficult experience into making music, Swift says she may have struggled to get through it mentally.
She added: “I realised I needed to restructure my life because it felt completely out of control. I knew immediately I needed to make music about it because I knew it was the only way I could survive it.
“It was the only way I could preserve my mental health and also tell the story of what it’s like to go through something so humiliating.”
Swift is gearing up for the release of her new album, ‘Lover’, which is due out on August 23. Last month she shared a new song, ‘The Archer’, from the forthcoming project, which, with its delicate introspection and slower pace, is an obvious departure from more sugary recent singles like ‘Me!’ and ‘You Need to Calm Down’.
While Swift’s new album isn’t due out for another few weeks (August 23), the star treated some of her most dedicated fans to an exclusive listen at a secret session at her home, after which the fans rushed to social media to reveal what happened.