Billboard has apologized to Taylor Swift after she included a controversial clip from Kanye West's “Famous” music video, where she appears nude with other celebrities, in a video honoring her career.
An error that does not go away. To celebrate Taylor Swift's 2nd place in its ranking of the “25 biggest pop stars of the 21st century”, Billboard has released a compilation of archives and excerpts from her music videos. However, a piece from Kanye West's controversial music video, “Famous,” showing a nude wax sculpture of Swift, was included, sparking widespread outrage among her fans.
“It’s disgusting,” commented an Internet fan of the pop star, in response to the publication of the video, while others demanded that the media apologize publicly. Additionally, the hashtags #BillboardIsOverParty (#FinDeBillboard) and #BillboardApologizeToTaylor (#BillboardExcusezVousÀTaylor) went viral.
Faced with reactions, Billboard removed the video and issued a public apology: “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 misrepresented her. We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we have caused with this error,” the statement read.
A traumatic episode for Taylor Swift
This clip, released in 2016, fueled the feud between Kanye West and Taylor Swift due to lyrics deemed misogynistic: “I have the impression that Taylor and I are briefly going to have sex again / Why? I made this scene famous.” Shortly after its release, the musician strongly condemned the song and denied having approved these comments. At the time, Kim Kardashian, wife of the rapper, published a partial recording of a telephone conversation suggesting that the artist had given consent. She notably described her as a “liar” and a “snake”, fueling a media lynching.
However, in 2020 a full version of the call was leaked, rrevealing that Taylor Swift never validated the insulting terms. In 2023, during an interview with Time, she returned to this episode: “My career was stolen from me. Kim Kardashian edited the video to make me look like a liar, which left me in a period of great pain. I moved to a foreign country. I didn't move out of a rental house for a year. I was afraid to answer phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I no longer trusted anyone. I really, really suffered.”
