Taylor Swift is a pop culture icon and a fantastic songwriter, but she's also very good at telling people off, either subtly or blatantly. Whether she's put their actual name in a song title or just hinted at something they did 15 years ago in a chorus, here are 30 people (and companies) who've found themselves outside of Taylor's good graces at some point or another.
Kanye West
When you're old and grey, you'll be telling your great-grandchildren about Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West, the greatest feud of our time. It began in 2009 when Kanye interrupted Taylor at the VMAs, but that was only the opening move in a war that would ultimately be waged over several years. Though Kanye got in quite a few blows with help from his wife Kim Kardashian (see next slide), Taylor threw a couple of her own successful punches. First, in her 2016 Grammys speech, she referred to him as one of the "people along the way who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame." Then in 2017, she released Reputation, which featured several songs likely about their long-standing conflict.
Kim Kardashian
Taylor's issue with Kim started because of Kanye, after he used Taylor's name in the Life of Pablo song 'Famous.' After Kim posted the Snapchat heard round the world,Kimye defenders started calling Taylor a snake and bombarding her Instagram with the snake emoji. A year later, Taylor released the snake-filled 'Look What You Made Me Do' video and now sells snake-themed merch on her website. Point...Taylor?
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Katy Perry
Taylor's feud with Katy doesn't go back in time as far as the Kanye drama, but it's just as complicated. It allegedly began with fighting over tour dancers, but escalated into a public saga that involved Twitter and Rolling Stone. The 1989 song 'Bad Blood' is supposedly about this situation, but Taylor's most brilliant move was putting her catalog back on Spotify the day Katy released her last album.
Harry Styles
Taylor and Harry's relationship may have been short-lived, but it provided a ton of fodder for some of her best songs. 'Out of the Woods' is likely about their brief courtship, but it's nothing compared to 'Style,' which literally has Harry's name in the title. Masterful!
One Direction
This one likely has more to do with the fact that Harry is part of One Direction and less to do with Taylor not liking the group, but at the 2013 VMAs, Taylor was caught mouthing words that looked like "shut the f*ck up" as 1D was speaking on stage. It could have been a coincidence, yes, but Selena Gomez's sly smile at the comment says otherwise.
Bob Lefsetz
If the name Bob Lefsetz doesn't ring a bell, perhaps the song 'Mean' will. Taylor, pictured her performing it at the 2012 Grammys, wrote 'Mean"'about a critic who she felt crossed a line in his review of her performance with Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammys. "There’s constructive criticism, there’s professional criticism, and then there’s just being mean," she said.
David Mueller
Back in 2015, radio host David Mueller sued Taylor for slander, saying that she'd made false accusations that caused him to get fired from his job, and in turn, she countersued him for assault. Last year, Taylor won both cases, and Mueller had to pay her $1 — the amount of money she asked for in her countersuit. Asking for just the one buck would have been perfect enough on its own, but then she gave it a cameo in her 'Look What You Made Me Do' video, in a scene where she's bathing in a tub full of diamonds. Taylor: infinity, Mueller: zero.
Ronnie Cremer
If you've never heard the name Ronnie Cremer, good — Taylor probably wants it that way.
In 2015, Cremer told the Daily News that he was the tech guy who'd taught Taylor play to guitar (this is an original story she told on an early promo DVD). He claimed it wasn't the happy accident that she made it out to be and that her parents instead sought him out to teach her, and then bought the domain name ITaughtTaylorSwift.com. Naturally, that did not fly with Taylor's team, who allegedly sent him a takedown notice.
Calvin Harris
Taylor and Calvin were blissfully happy until they weren't, and once they weren't, things got ugly. Before the world knew that Taylor had co-written 'This Is What You Came For,' Calvin told Ryan Seacrest that he didn't think he and Taylor would ever collaborate, despite the fact that they already had. She then revealed that Nils Sjoberg was actually Taylor Swift, and even later, after Calvin had gone off on Twitter about her a couple of times, she included a "HERE LIES NILS SJOBERG" tombstone in the 'LWYMMD' video.
Camilla Belle
Way before Old Taylor stopped coming to the phone, she dated Joe Jonas. Taylor claimed that he dumped her via 27-second phone call, then immediately started dating actress Camilla Belle. The Speak Now song 'Better Than Revenge' is widely believed to be about this incident, and includes the lyrics, "She's an actress, whoa / She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress, whoa."
Jake Gyllenhaal
As Taylor Swift breakup songs go, the ones about Jake Gyllenhaal are the absolute best. There's the Red title track about trying to move on, then there's 'All Too Well' (for my money the best Taylor Swift song of all time), which includes the line "so casually cruel in the name of being honest." But the one you definitely know is 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,' a brutal and supremely catchy kiss-off that's believed to be about Jake.
Nicki Minaj
This one was ultimately a miss for Taylor, but is notable because (1) Taylor apologised and (2) she ended up getting the heat taken off her that night thanks to Miley Cyrus, who inspired Nicki's infamous "what's good" comment. But the backstory is this: Nicki tweeted about how the 2015 VMA nominations favored white artists and Taylor assumed Nicki was talking about Taylor. Nicki wasn't and some Twitter words were exchanged, but in the end they made up and performed together.
Joe Jonas
If you know one thing about Taylor and Joe's relationship, it's that Joe dumped her by phone. Besides the aforementioned 'Better Than Revenge' about Joe and Camilla, there's the Fearless track 'Forever & Always,' believed to be about Joe. It contains zingers like "did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide like a scared little boy?" and "thought I knew you for a minute, now I'm not so sure."
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
This started when Tina and Amy made a joke about Taylor's love life while hosting the 2013 Golden Globes. Taylor responded in Vanity Fair, saying, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." Though most people seemed to understand that Tina and Amy were making a joke, Taylor's still the winner here because now everyone thinks feminism means you're never allowed to criticize another woman. Thanks for that, Tay!
John Mayer
Taylor is a master of the devastating breakup song, but few of them are more devastating than 'Dear John,' from 2010's Speak Now. Sample lyrics: "Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?" and "all the girls that you've run dry have tired lifeless eyes." The apparently song did the trick, because in 2010, John told Rolling Stone that it "humiliated" him.
Karlie Kloss
Whether these two are still friends or not is debatable, but most Kaylor scholars can at least agree that the two are somewhat less close now than they were in the days of the joint Vogue cover. Taylor's (perhaps unintentional) shade came at the end of the 'LWYMMD' video, where she's wearing a t-shirt with her friends' names on it and Karlie's is conspicuously absent. Karlie has since said that the pair are still friends, so maybe the shirt was just a fluke.
Justin Bieber
Taylor is not here for any man who wrongs her friend, as Justin Bieber found out at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards (this picture is from 2009, when Justin was but a wee one). While Justin, at the time an ex of Selena Gomez, was performing, Taylor was caught on camera sipping water and looking the other way. Here's hoping they all show up at this year's Billboard Music Awards!
The Report That She Insured Her Legs for $40 Million
In 2015, there were reports that Taylor Swift had insured her legs for $40 million. Insuring body parts isn't unheard of, but $40 million is an absurd amount of money. Tay didn't deny it outright, but instead responded with a jokey Instagram about how Meredith the cat had scratched her thigh and thus owed her $40 million.
Hiddleswift Haters and/or Tom Hiddleston Himself
Hiddleswift was a shooting star of a celebrity relationship, streaking across the night sky of gossip and burning out just as soon as it got good. First, Taylor mocked Hiddleswift haters in the 'LWYMMD' video by having her dancers wear imitations of Tom's notorious "I <3 T.S." shirt, but when Reputation came out, listeners were quick to notice that 'Getaway Car' appeared to be about Tom. Sample lyric: "I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason." (The other him in this scenario is Calvin Harris.)
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Jordan Alford
An oldie, yes, but it still counts: 'Picture to Burn' is from Taylor's 2006 self-titled debut album, and is purportedly about her high-school relationship with Jordan Alford. According to Jordan's now-wife Chelsea, Taylor wrote the song because Jordan chose Chelsea over her. Sample lyrics: "I hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive" and "you're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying."
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