BAD BLOOD

from under me.”

She later told Rolling Stone that her desire in writing the song “was not to create some gossipfest”. That backfired.

A tiger doesn’t lose sleep Hours later, Perry sent a cryptic tweet, “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing...”

The reference, for the unaware, was to the antagonist in the film Mean Girls, who, notably, is blond, like Swift.

Perry did not respond to

Swift’s comments directly. But her tweet and Brownlie’s previous comments set off a wave of speculation.

A really deep cut

The album 1989 was released on October 27, 2014, and fans and critics started to dissect the lyrics to Bad Blood. Most agreed the song was about Perry.

Among the clues was a photo of a Grammy Award in the album’s liner notes next to the song’s lyrics.

At the time, Swift had received seven Grammys. Perry had won none. Swift had a habit of burying hidden messages in her liner notes.

One striking element of the 1989 roll-out: Swift did not release the album on Spotify. A week later, her label removed her entire catalogue from the streaming service. (This would prove important.)

I got your number

In an interview with Billboard in January 2015, ahead of her Super Bowl half-time show, Perry was asked about her tweet and her then-rumoured feud with Swift.

“If somebody is trying to defame my character,” she said, “you’re going to hear about it.” But she declined to address the speculation.

Weeks later, in an interview with The Telegraph, Swift also deflected questions. “I’m never going to talk about her in my interview,” she said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes

Things stayed quiet until May 2015, when the music video for Bad Blood was released.

The video depicted Swift as an action hero leading a squad of musicians, models and actors in a crusade against a frenemy who betrays her.

That antagonist was played by actress Selena Gomez, who appeared in a black wig and dark make-up that some said was quite similar to Perry’s coiffure and look at the time.

Silly rap beefs

June 2015: Enter Nicki Minaj. After nominations for the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards came out, the rapper sent a series of tweets hinting that her video for Anaconda would have been nominated for video of the year had she been a different “kind” of artist.

Swift, whose video for Bad Blood would eventually win the category, took that as a personal attack. In a since-deleted tweet, she wrote “I’ve done nothing but love and support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.”

Then Perry weighed in: “Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one immeasurably capitalises on the take-down of a woman...”

The first part of her tweet cribs from Swift’s comments. The second part is believed to be about Bad Blood.

But she’s looking at you Months later, in September, a fan asked on Twitter if Perry would ever collaborate with Swift. Perry acknowledged that she would – on one condition: “if she says sorry, sure”.

On May 19, 2017, ahead of her album Witness, Perry released the song Swish Swish. The single, which also featured Minaj, was widely believed to be a diss track in which Perry was responding to Bad Blood. Asked about the song by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, she declined to answer.

Funny, my name keeps coming out of your mouth

Two days later, Perry spilled the beans in a carpool karaoke segment with James Corden, the host of The Late Late Show.

After acknowledging Swish Swish was about Swift, Perry said back-up dancers were indeed at the heart of their feud. She also blamed Swift for starting it all by refusing to speak to Perry and releasing Bad Blood. She told Corden that she was ready for the drama to end. Swift never responded. – The New York Times