Billboard apologizes to Taylor Swift for controversial Kanye West clip in video tribute

Los Angeles, California - Taylor Swift has received an apology from Billboard after the outlet used a controversial snippet from a Kanye West music video in a tribute post for her.

Taylor Swift has received an apology from Billboard after the outlet used a controversial snippet from a Kanye West (l.) music video in a tribute post for her.
Taylor Swift has received an apology from Billboard after the outlet used a controversial snippet from a Kanye West (l.) music video in a tribute post for her.  © Collage: Jewel SAMAD / AFP & CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP

The 34-year-old was named Billboard's second Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century on Tuesday, and the announcement was accompanied by a clip highlighting her accomplishments over the years.

But Swifties quickly raised alarm after noticing a portion of Kanye's 2016 music video for Famous – featuring a nude recreation of Taylor – was included.

"We are deeply sorry to Taylor Swift and all of our readers and viewers that in a video celebrating Swift's achievements, we included a clip that falsely depicted her," Billboard said in a statement shared to X on Thursday.

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"We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error."

Kanye's infamous music video has been deeply controversial since it came out – and not just for the bizarre naked wax figures of Taylor and other celebs.

The song notoriously sparked the pair's longtime feud as, in the opening, Ye raps of Taylor, "I made that b***h famous."

Taylor Swift and Kanye West's infamous bad blood

Taylor Swift (r.) and Kanye West's longtime feud ignited in 2016 over the rapper's hit song Famous.
Taylor Swift (r.) and Kanye West's longtime feud ignited in 2016 over the rapper's hit song Famous.  © Larry Busacca / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

While Kanye and Taylor's bad blood technically dates back to the rapper's interruption of her 2009 VMA acceptance speech, the pop star had been clear that the incident was water under the bridge – until 2016, that is.

Taylor has maintained that Ye called her to run the preceding Famous lyric – "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex" – by her but said he did not mention that he'd call her a "b***h" in the next line.

The feud properly erupted when Kanye's then-wife Kim Kardashian shared a doctored snippet of Taylor and Kanye's phone call to make it appear as though the Fortnight artist had given her approval to both lines and was now lying about it.

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The musicians have not settled their feud in the years since.

In 2023, Taylor reflected on just how hard the experience was for her as she told Time magazine, "You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar."

"That took me down psychologically to a place I've never been before."

Billboard's revised tribute to Taylor is now live on their social media feeds. The outlet will announce its pick for the Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century – widely assumed to be Beyoncé – on Tuesday.

Cover photo: Collage: Jewel SAMAD / AFP & CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP

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