Taylor Swift may have just name-checked the artist formerly known as Kanye West

By CNN Newsource

Published August 16, 2024 8:02 AM

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Success is said to be better than revenge, but Taylor Swift appears content with both.

Many in her fan base believe she’s found just that with Kanye West, who now goes by Ye.

If you don’t know the back story behind their bad blood (and you really should), it started in 2009, when West infamously hijacked the microphone from Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Then in 2016, there was a major dispute over whether or not West cleared song lyrics about Swift with the singer.

That particularly disagreement also involved West’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian, who shared an edited clip of Swift’s and West’s conversation meant to prove her then-husband was in the right. It resulted in #TaylorSwiftIsASnake famously trending.

Four years later, a leaked video of the entire conversation appeared to vindicate Swift.

Fast forward to this week, when Swift is in her most successful era yet and her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department” is at the top of the charts.

Her position there is so strong that Ye’s latest, a joint album with Ty Dolla $ign titled “Vulture 2,” has so far not been able to shake it off to achieve the top spot.

Swift’s “Tortured Poets” includes a track titled “thanK you aIMee,” which tells the story of a mean girl with lyrics that include, “I don’t think you’ve changed much / I changed your name and any real defining clues / And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”

Much was made among the Swifties, as the singer’s devoted fan base is known, that the capitalized letters spell out “Kim.” To the average person that might seem so high school, but people are invested, which is why Swift’s latest move is being hailed as a master stroke of style.

For not only has Swift’s No. 1 chart position thus far blocked Ye, on Thursday she edited to the song’s title to read “thank You aimEe” for the release of the live version she performed in London in June on her Eras Tour.

Now the capitalized letters read “Ye.”

These two artists are probably never, ever getting back to friendly terms.