Every day, there seems to be a new case of a celebrity unfollowing a former best friend on social media or writing plastic wrap see-through lyrics calling out the one that did them wrong. More often than not, we tend to take sides. Some celebrity feuds are just so utterly ridiculous, it makes me realize that they are just as normal and petty as we are.
Take Taylor Swift: now if you know me, you know that there are two people that I feel are either highly overrated or as fake as Kylie Jenner, and one of them is Taylor Swift. She is the top person that comes to mind when I think of subliminal lyrics. We all know the 2014 mega-hit “Bad Blood” from her 1989 album. The music video showed Swift in a post-apocalyptic world gearing up for battle against another badass female. Immediately, speculation over who the song was about centered around Katy Perry, her former BFF. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift basically accused Perry (without naming names, of course) of trying to “sabotage” her tour by attempting to hire her dancers for her own tour. Perry then responded with a tweet referencing everyone’s favorite “Mean Girl,” Regina George. People quickly made the connection. Soon after, Perry released the terrible track “Swish Swish” and immediately everyone glommed onto the feud harder than ever. Is it over? Not sure, honestly. Both are as petty as petty does.
Because Swift loves the drama, she also got into it with Kim Kardashian-West and her husband Kanye. Unless you’ve been hiding under some desert rock somewhere, you know their tale begins in 2009 at the MTV VMA’s when Kanye interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, declaring that Beyoncé should have won (Side note: Kanye, if you would’ve kept your big mouth shut, Swift would not be as famous as she is now! You did this, I blame you!).
Fast forward to 2016 when the hip-hop star released his track “Famous.” Included in the single was the line, “”I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b—- famous.” Well, at least he took responsibility for causing the world to know who she is and subjecting us to the overly intimate journal that is her music. Fans of hers proceeded to barrage his social media. He took to Twitter (everyone’s favorite drama confessional), stating that he and Swift had a phone call in which he talked to her about the lyric and how she even “thought it was funny.” Then, Swift uttered the famous line, “I would like to be excluded from this narrative,” basically denying that it ever happened, posting responses to Kanye’s claims on social media. BUT WAIT! Kim came out stating that she was present for the phone call, and they even recorded it, going as far to release the video of her husband and Swift talking. Hard to argue when there’s proof, Tay-Tay. Like I say, it always pays to have receipts.
Onto one of my favorites, Nicki Minaj. In 2012, she and Mariah Carey were contracted to be judges on American Idol. As soon as cameras began rolling, there were stories of the two singers going at each other’s throats. I assume it’s because Carey has a huge ego on her, even though Nick Cannon took her voice in the divorce and that’s why she sounds like a skipping, grainy Walkman. But y’all know if someone comes for Nicki, she’s going to swing back and respond with Twitter subs. It all died down after a while, but I still haven’t seen them in the same room since. If I did though, I’m putting all my money on Minaj.
Petty feuds aren’t just limited to females. Kanye West and JAY-Z had their share of Wagyu beef just last year. So, we all know how Kanye goes on these rants followed by a breakdown every once and awhile, right? So, this one was aimed at Hova, calling both him and his wife Beyoncé out at his concert. Basically, the “Gold Digger” rapper threw shots at the couple for not wanting to perform unless Beyoncé beat him for an award, not checking on him after his wife Kim’s Paris robbery, and for not letting their kids play together. Like dude, chill. Not everyone has to play with North West and Saint. Just take them to daycare and relax.
Of course, some feuds come well deserved to those that instigate them. Enter Giuliana Rancic stage left. Rancic is the current host of E!’s Fashion Police, a show that commentates on the fashions of celebrities. At the 2015 Academy Awards, Rancic made jokes concerning Zendaya’s locs “probably smelling like patchouli” and “weed.” First of all, Rancic was downright disrespectful. That’s not even just my opinion. A lot of people came forward to express their distaste for the comment. Zendaya herself posted on Instagram about how the comment was prejudiced, citing locs as “a symbol of strength and beauty.” Her point of wearing the locs to the awards was to “remind people of color that our hair is good enough.” African Americans have so many degrading stereotypes placed upon us, especially when it comes to looks. I love that Zendaya stood up for herself, as well as her fellow people of color. It shows such maturity to not only rise above the comments made by Rancic, but to also educate to those that may also be as narrow-minded.
It used to be that, in times of drama or conflict, singers and rappers would drop diss tracks, leaving the world with their jaw dropped, waiting in anticipation for a harder response from the targeted. Now, subtweets in the captions of pictures or tweets seems to be the direction to go. Honestly, can we go back to the battles on the mic? Subtweets just seem so cowardly, unless you actually “@” the person’s handle. Be brave or keep the subtweets in the drafts folder.
Wynter Bond
wcbond@vwu.edu
