Taylor Swift and Kanye “Ye” West’s “Famous” phone call from 2016 is still one of the most controversial topics in pop culture. The rapper called the pop star to discuss the lyric, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? / I made that bitch famous.” After the song was released, Taylor argued that she never approved a specific portion of the lyric, which Ye’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, disputed by sharing a few leaked videos of their phone call via Snapchat. However, Taylor continues to stand by her argument to this day. Keep reading to read more from Ye and Taylor’s full conversation.
Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s Phone Call Transcript
The full transcript from the call was unveiled in 2020, according to multiple outlets. The call began with Ye telling Taylor he wanted her to help him promote “Famous” after it came out. He then informed her that the track included a “very controversial line,” which she warily asked what the lyrics were.
Ye was heard warning Taylor, “It’s gonna go Eminem a little bit” before telling her to “brace yourself for a second.” The rapper even pointed out that his then-wife, Kim, felt the line was “too crazy” at first but eventually came around. Taylor inquired if the line was “gonna be mean.”
“So, it says, ‘To all my Southside n*****s that know me best / I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex.” Taylor then responded, “That’s not mean.” However, the “Love Story” artist told him she needed to “think about it because it is absolutely crazy.”
According to another portion from the call, according to several outlets, Ye asked Taylor how she felt if he included a lyric that said, “I made her famous.” She then responded, “Did you say that? Well, what am I going to do about it? It’s just kind of, like, whatever at this point. But I mean, you gotta tell the story the way it happened to you and the way that you’ve experienced it. Like, you honestly didn’t know who I was before that. Like, it doesn’t matter if 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. But um, yeah, I can’t wait to hear it.”
Toward the end of the call, Ye told Taylor he would send her the finalized version of the single. “I’m going to send you the song and send you the exact wording and everything about it, right?” he explained, adding, “And then we could sit and talk through it.”
Did Kim Kardashian Edit Taylor Swift’s Call With Kanye West?
After Taylor denied knowing Ye would include the line, “I made that bitch famous,” Kim accused Taylor of being a “snake” and a liar via multiple tweets. She also told GQ in an interview in 2016 that Taylor “totally approved” of the lyrics in “Famous.”
Nevertheless, Taylor maintained her claim over the years that Kim “edited” the conversation she had with Ye, telling TIME in 2023, “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.”
I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020
However, Kim previously accused Taylor of lying in 2020 by tweeting, “I never edited the footage (another lie) — I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point, and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative.”