Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's rollercoaster relationship: A timeline

Bad blood has been brewing between Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West long before Snapchat-gate 2016. From award show moments to Twitter rants and interviews, we're taking a close look at the pop star's rollercoaster relationship with Kimye.

September 29, 2016 The end has come for the infamous KimYe/Taylor drama, at least if the Wests have anything to say about it. During an exclusive interview with Billboard, Kim Kardashian West puts and end to the drama once and for all. “Ugh, do we really have to talk about Taylor Swift?... I’m so over it,” she says during the interview. “If it were up to Kanye, it all would probably never have come out. He can handle it, he has no hard feelings. He doesn’t even really care. I just wanted to protect my husband...” “It wasn’t even about a look or anything, or to have this feud — it was like, ‘OK, here’s the truth.’ Done. Let’s all move on. I feel like I don’t want to talk about her anymore.” Photo: Zoey Grossman exclusively for Billboard

September 13, 2009 B.K. (Before Kim)
In what now feels like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away — or the MTV VMAs — Kanye West and Taylor Swift's paths crossed setting the wheels in motion for what is perhaps one of our generation's greatest celebrity feuds. On this fateful evening, Taylor took home the Best Female Video Award for You Belong With Me.

However, the country singer's moment of glory was cut short when Kanye jumped on stage and took her mic. The rapper then proceeded to address the audience goers (including a shocked Beyoncé), "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!"

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Following the infamous incident onstage, Taylor told reporters after the VMA show, "I don't want to start anything." She added, "I had a great day tonight. I've been sent so many text messages and everyone's been really nice. I've had a really, really fun night."
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Days later, Kanye made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where he apologized for his actions. "My entire life I've only wanted to give and do something that I felt was right, and I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong and it wasn't a spectacle," he said. "It's actually someone's emotions that I stepped on. It was very, it was rude, period. I'd like to be able to apologize to her in person."
Photo: FilmMagic

September 2010
Kanye resorted to one of his favorite platforms, Twitter, to address the VMA incident a year later. In a series of tweets he wrote, "I wrote a song for Taylor Swift that's so beautiful, and I want her to have it. If she won't take it then I'll perform it for her. She had nothing to do with my issues with award shows. She had no idea what hit her. She's just a lil' girl with dreams like the rest of us. She deserves the apology more than anyone. Thank you Biz Stone and Evan Williams for creating a platform where we can communicate directly. We're both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. Everyone wants to capitalize off this in some way. I'm ready to get out of my own way. The ego is overdone... like hoodies."

"I am not a bad person," he continued. "Even in that moment I was only trying to do good but people don't always need my help. I've hurt, I've bled, I've learned."

Kanye wrapped the rant with another apology to the pop star saying, "I only want to do good. I want to win there hearts back so I can continue to bring my take on culture to the masses with a clean opinion. It starts with this...I'm sorry Taylor."

Photo: WireImage

September 2010
Taylor premiered her confessional song Innocent at the VMAs, which she wrote "to" Kanye himself — which features the lyrics: "Did some things you can't speak of / But at night you'll live it all again / You wouldn't be shattered on the floor now / If only you had seen what you know now then."

Photo: WireImage

November 2010
The rapper backtracked on his apology while on a Minnesota radio station. Discussing the VMAs, Kanye said his actions were not "arrogant" but "selfless." He also said that the incident benefitted Taylor and that he helped her "have 100 magazine covers and sell a million [her] first week."

Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

February 2015 A.K. (After Kim)
Fastforward years later and Taylor, Kanye and Kim Kardashian looked like the best of buds at the Grammy Awards. A couple days later, the reality star's husband told Ryan Seacrest he planned on collaborating with the country singer. He dished, "[Taylor] wants to get in the studio and we're definitely going to go in. Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fan base, I'm down to get in the studio and work."

Photos: WireImage/Getty Images for NARAS

August 2015
Kanye and Taylor returned to the scene of the crime — the MTV VMAs — where the Style artist presented Kim's husband with the Video Vanguard Award. She wrapped the introduction saying, "All the other winners, I'm really happy for you, I'm going to let you finish, but Kanye West has had one of the greatest careers of all time.”

Kim Kardashian hung out with Taylor in the audience looking like a regular member of the singer's star-studded squad.

Photo: Getty Images For MTV/WireImage

September 2015
The day after Kanye announced his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election at the VMAs, the rapper sent Taylor thank you flowers for her support to run as his running mate. The Bad Blood singer shared a photo of the arrangement writing, "Awww Kanye sent me the coolest flowers!! #KanTay2020 #BFFs."

Photo: Instagram/@taylorswift

February 2016
The pair's seemingly friendly relationship took a turn following the premiere of Kanye's new album, The Life of Pablo, during his Yeezy Season 3 show at Madison Square Garden. The controversial song Famous features the lyrics: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that b-tch famous/Goddamn, I made that b-tch famous."

Photo: Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3

February 2016
After receiving backlash from the premiere of Famous, Kanye took to Twitter to reveal that Taylor had given him her blessing. "I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her…," he began." I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings."

Photo: Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3

February 2016
The 1989 singer's camp denied that Taylor gave her approval for the song, releasing a statement that said: "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. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that bitch famous.'"

Photo: Getty Images

February 15, 2016
While accepting her Album of the Year award at the Grammys, Taylor addressed the infamous Kanye lyrics about her saying, "There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or fame."

She continued, "But if you focus on your work and 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 that love you that put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world."

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

June 2016
For her July GQ issue, Kim gave her two-cents on the Kanye-Taylor Famous lyric controversy. “She totally approved that,” the TV star said. "She totally knew that that was coming out. She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't. I swear, my husband gets so much sh-t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved," adding, “What rapper would call a girl that he was rapping a line about to get approval?”

Kim continued, "I don't know why she just, you know, flipped all of a sudden.… It was funny because [on the call with Kanye, Taylor] said, ‘When I get on the Grammy red carpet, all the media is going to think that I'm so against this, and I'll just laugh and say, ‘The joke's on you, guys. I was in on it the whole time.’ And I'm like, wait, but [in] your Grammy speech, you completely dissed my husband just to play the victim again.”

Photo: Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage

A spokesperson for the Wildest Dreams singer declined to comment on Kim's interview, which brought the (at the time) alleged video footage and threat of legal action to light. Instead Taylor's camp issued a statement to GQ that read: "Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West. However, that does not change the fact that much of what Kim is saying is incorrect. Kanye West and Taylor only spoke once on the phone while she was on vacation with her family in January of 2016 and they have never spoken since. Taylor has never denied that conversation took place. It was on that phone call that Kanye West also asked her to release the song on her Twitter account, which she declined to do. Kanye West never told Taylor he was going to use the term ‘that bitch’ in referencing her. A song cannot be approved if it was never heard. Kanye West never played the song for Taylor Swift. Taylor heard it for the first time when everyone else did and was humiliated. Kim Kardashian's claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true, and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone."

Photo: Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/WireImage

July 17, 2016
A night that will live in infamy as far as pop culture is concerned! Following an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians in which Kimye's feud with the 1989 singer took center stage, the TV star tweeted to her millions of followers: "do u guys follow me on snap chat? u really should ;-)."

On her account, Kim shared a series of video clips showing the recorded phone conversation between Kanye and Taylor, where the pop star seemingly gave her approval for the song.
PhotoL Marc Piasecki/GC Images

The transcript (via E!) of the singers' phone call reads:
Kanye West reads the Famous lyric: "To all my southside n----s that know me best, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex."
Taylor Swift: "I'm like this close to overexposure."
Kanye West: "Oh, well this I think this a really cool thing to have."
Taylor Swift: "I know, I mean it's like a compliment, kind of."
Kanye West: "All I give a f--k about is you as a person and as a friend, I want things that make you feel good."
Taylor Swift: "That's sweet."
Kanye West: "I don't want to do rap that makes people feel bad."
Taylor Swift: "Umm, yeah I mean go with whatever line you think is better. It's obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that's really nice."
Kanye West: "Oh yeah, I just had a responsibility to you as a friend you know, and I mean thanks for being so cool about it."
Taylor Swift: "Aw thanks. Um yeah I really appreciate it, like the heads up is so nice. [inaudible] Even asking or seeing if I would be okay with it and I just really appreciate it. Like I would never expect you to like tell me about a line in one of your songs."
Kanye West: "It's pretty crazy."
Taylor Swift: "And then the flowers that you sent me, I like Instagrammed a picture of them and it's like the most Instagram likes I've ever gotten. It was like 2.7" [video cuts off]
Kanye West: "Relationships are more important than punch lines, ya know?"
Taylor Swift: "I don't think anyone would listen to that and be like that's a real diss she must be crying. You've gotta tell the story the way that it happened to you and the way that you experienced it. You honestly didn't know who I was before that. It doesn't matter that I sold 7 million of that album before you did that which is what happened, you didn't know who I was before that. It's fine."
Taylor Swift: "I might be in debt, but I can make these things happen. I have the ideas to do it and I create these things and concepts. I'm always going to respect you. I'm really glad that you have the respect to call me and tell me that as a friend about the song. It's a really cool thing to do and a really good show of friendship so thank you."
Kanye West: "Thank you, too."
Taylor Swift: "And you know, if people ask me about it I think it would be great for me to be like, ‘Look, he called me and told me the line before it came out. Jokes on you guys, We're fine.'
You guys want to call this a feud; you want to call this throwing shade but right after the song comes out I'm going to be on a Grammys red carpet and they're going to ask me about it and I'll be like, ‘He called me.' It's awesome that you're so outspoken about this and be like, ‘Yeah, she does. It made her famous.' Its more provocative to say ‘might still have sex…' It's doesn't matter to me. There's not like one [line] that hurts my feelings and one that doesn't."

Photo: Kevin Winter/MTV1415/Getty Images For MTV

July 18, 2016
Hours after Kim shared the recorded conversation between her husband and Taylor, which sent the Internet into a frenzy, the Grammy winner responded to the Snapchat videos on her Instagram and Twitter account.

She captioned the post, "That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet."

The note said: "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that bitch' in his song? It doesn't exist because it never happened. You don't get to control someone's emotional response to being called 'that bitch' in front of the entire world," she wrote in a note."
"Of course I wanted to like the song. I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song. I wanted us to have a friendly relationship. He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot 'approve' a song you haven't heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination."

"I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009."

Photo: Twitter/@taylorswift13

September 22, 2016 After Kim spoke out about Kanye's song Famous, she insisted that she didn't intend on throwing shade in Taylor's direction. "I never publicly talk bad about people," Kanye's wife told Wonderland magazine. "I still don't feel like I have. I'm being honest. I'm a fan. I like her music. There was no shade." The social media queen mentioned getting a text from a member of Taylor's squad, but didn't feel it was appropriate to name names. "Girls in her squad hit me up on text," she shared. Though the mom-of-two wouldn't reveal who saying, "I'm not petty." Photo: James Devaney/GC Images