Taylor Swift’s Representatives Again Deny She Gave Permission for “Famous” • Page 2

Didn't read it (probably wont) but just clicked to check the byline and I'm pretty sure the author used to write for Gawker.

So you know, that explains a lot.

That said, she still ends up writing for GQ, so good for her.

 

Again, everyone draws their own lines. Asking if his art is "worth" it is a little weird because on the scale of problematic celebrities his art has significant value and his problematic shit is, while not excusable, at least mostly confined to words (which is most of what people take issue with in regards to Kanye), which is a world away from people who actively physically hurt others and continue to thrive because of their celebrity (Woody Allen, Jameis Winston, Sean Penn, Chris Brown, etc.)

 

Kanye is squeaky clean compared to shit other rappers have done

He's never hit a woman, he's never been involved in gangs, he has two children with the woman he's married to, he's been speaking out against homophobia in hip-hop since WAY before it was considered acceptable in the community, etc.

So what if he's kind of a dick sometimes, I have no problem supporting him.

 

I agree that the sex line seems more crass, the note from her rep specifically mentions the bitch line though

 

This is pretty much exactly how I feel on the issue. I'm a pretty big Kanye fan and I feel like most of the problematic shit he's done is fairly minor considering how much I like his work. I can't even really recall anything he's said or done that isn't at worst vaguely misogynistic. As a hip hop fan, the genre is full of misogynists and what Kanye has said and done I think pales in comparison. If I didn't listen to every artist who said or did something questionable, I wouldn't listen to music.

I really don't think Taylor is at all offended by the lines Kanye wrote about her. She has the power, money and team to stop him from rapping about her. The fact that he called her to let her know about the lines to me throws out any idea that she wasn't aware of the content. If he cared enough to tell her, why would he omit portions of the verse? And if Taylor really "cannot understand why Kanye won't leave her alone," why is she spending time and money chasing after copyright infringers when with her influence (and lawyers) she could take care of her Kanye problem for good? I think it's obvious the publicity is more valuable to her and to Kanye, too -- this is a win win situation for both their reputations. Now he's building up bravado after years of apologizing and she gets to re-victimize and further endear herself to the public.

 

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle and both of them probably believe they're telling the truth and neither fully is.

Team nobody except the drama, as always!

 

This feels correct

 

yea I've gone through various theories in my mind but neither of their stories makes sense to me so I give up lol!

 

Out of curiosity, why doesn't Kanye's story sound correct? I'd be less likely to believe it if Taylor's team hadn't confirmed the phone call. Doesn't make sense to me that he would call and omit or lie about what he was going to say just to get approval that would undoubtedly be retracted if he were dishonest about the verse.

 

I am thinking there was some sort of miscommunication about the song. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. It's a boring explanation lol but I really think that was it. And honestly, even if Taylor is the evil villain, nobody made Kanye write that line except Kanye and at the end of the day it's still inappropriate. I'm not really sure why he ever thought it was a good idea, even if he ran it past Taylor.

 

Pretty much. I don't buy the evil scheme/revenge plot that's being thrown around. I assume Ye called her, she was uncomfortable and either said no or something about being uncomfortable, he took it as a yes and now we have this issue. Kim was explicit saying that Taylor literally said everyone will think she's mad when she's actually not, so that throws a whole wrench into the plan and makes it 100% that one side is lying
Either way, the line is pretty awful and even if she "okayed" it or whatever Ye thinks she said, it's not really "okay"

Messssyyy

 

Well yeah, the fact that it's inappropriate and disrespectful is pretty much fact. I'm more interested in the communication breakdown.

This sounds totally plausible to me until the part about Kim. I don't understand why Kim is speaking for Taylor, but I only read half the GQ article (I can only read so much of...that). I'm thinking now that the phone call was probably very vague on both parts considering their relationship is already strained and they were probably verbally tiptoeing. Kanye didn't want to tell her word for word what he was going to say and Taylor didn't want to respond with a straight up "no."

I don't think the line is as bad as its being made out to be. The language is crass but the message I got from it was "I gave Taylor publicity and I think she might've liked it." Disrespectful as fuck, yeah, but not evil. To compare it to a similar situation, this is NOTHING compared to what Eminem said about Lana Del Rey. I don't condone Kanye's verse, I don't think it was a good idea, but I don't think it's that big a deal either.

 

eh that's where the gossip in me backs out lol. I won't even pretend to be privy to what the miscommunication was. Not that I'm above speculation haha, but I'm just bored until anything concrete comes out. But at this point I don't think either deliberately lied or anything.

I mean if there's a more dramatic reasoning I'd love to know it tho lol #TeamDrama

 

Nah I don't think either party was purposely being dishonest either. I'm mainly interested in this because its a weird art etiquette problem. What's the right way to go about a situation like this? I think as an artist, Kanye is entitled to say what he's thinking and feeling in his music, but when it comes to referencing other people, should he have to censor himself? If he chooses not to censor himself, a phone call seems like the right thing to do, but clearly that's not working out for Taylor or for Kanye, so what is the right thing to do? Compromise his art and save hurt feelings, or stand by what he said/felt and destroy an already strained relationship?

 

Agree with all of this.

 

There is no way in hell she can say that she gave him permission even if she did. It would look so bad to her fans. He calls her a "bitch" in the song and while she probably doesn't care about the line, she doesn't want her fans to think that she's cool with that.

 

I see your point. My biggest issue is how many artists are doing the same problematic things (or have done them in the past) but we still continue to support their art? The Beatles were some fucking awful people by today's liberal standards. Most people before today, who were artists, did some really wild awful shit. I'm not excusing it, but I also believe that a true artist is always going to be a little off.

I love kanye, I've listened to him since college dropout and I think he's a genius. I can't defend a lot of his actions, but I don't think I have too. His art is what it is and if you don't like it, you don't have too.

 

I'm a huge Kanye fan and I could not care less about this story anymore. I don't think we'll ever get the real story and I have a good feeling reality is somewhere in the middle.

Taylor Swift is also an insufferable phony. Whether she gave permission or not, there's not a chance in the world that would ever be made public. Would ruin the image she's manufactured.

 

Ok, I'll bite—why do you find her phony?

I mean, she holds listening parties at her home for select fans. She sends handwritten thank you notes after doing radio interviews. I'm not saying she's perfect, but I don't understand how she's phony at all.

You make a good point here. He's definitely not as clean as Drake though

 

kanye west is a piece of shit, him not hitting women doesn't excuse his misogyny

 

I've come around to keeping to myself more often than not when it comes to issues (and threads) like these, but Kanye West is in fact problematic - I don't think I've seen anyone deny that - it's just that his issues with misogyny (among other things) are telling of a much, much larger issue currently being discussed among the hip-hop community. Personally speaking, I would not call him a piece of shit - not just because I'm a fan, but because I think he does tend to get trampled by the media and public over things that are either a) actually revealing about himself, classicism, racism, politics, hip-hop culture, celeb culture and artistry or b) not as much of an issue as they're being made to be - but again, I've become comfortable with the idea that everyone has their own limits and draws the line somewhere, so I'm not going to chastise someone for feeling differently.

I just don't think his case is that black and white. There's so much more discussion to be had than "he's a piece of shit," or even "he's a groundbreaking artist," for what it's worth. And this is the place to have that discussion. We can do better.

 

This is everything I wanted to say and couldn't put into words

 

So many Kanye apologists.

 

I do not get why people cannot understand this:

People are not apologizing for Kanye West, or trying to reduce how gross what he's said and done is.

People are recognizing that a LOT of people attack Kanye West, not just for these things, but for disgusting racial reasons.

When these things happen, things become a lot more complicated. People end up jumping to Kanye's defense because of how often he's looked down upon for his race (for things a white man would not be chastised for whatsoever). Sometimes the defense is deserved, sometimes nothing wrong is happening. And sometimes, like in this instance, it's an issue that fans can acknowledge and try to work out a productive way to go against said issue, while still promoting all of the positive things Kanye has done for race.

I get that this is somewhat a reiteration of what Aaron said, but as someone who has his own line drawn, it's what I want to say. I do not support Kanye West directly with my money anymore, I won't buy any future albums and that's my choice. Others still will and that's okay, as long as we don't choose to ignore the issue of sexism in our media, whether it be music, movies, video games, etc.