Taylor Swift said she “went through some really low times” after Kim Kardashian seemed to refer to her as a “snake” on social media in 2016.
Swift made the comments as she kicked off her “Reputation” tour in Arizona.
“A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media, and it caught on,” the 28-year-old singer told the crowd. “And then a lot of people called me a lot of names on social media. And I went through some really low times for a while because of it.”
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for DIRECTV)
“I went through some times when I didn’t know if I was gonna get to do this anymore,” she added. “And I guess the snakes — I wanted to send a message to you guys that if someone uses name-calling to bully you on social media and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn’t have to defeat you. It can strengthen you instead.”
Taylor’s speech before Long Live: @TV3Xpose) #repTourGlendale pic.twitter.com/o2qi3x2uIZ
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZBU) May 9, 2018
“And I think something that came out of it that was good was that I learned a really important lesson that I’ve been telling you from the stage for 10 years but I haven’t been able to learn myself, which has to do with how much you value your reputation,” she continued. “And I think the lesson is that you shouldn’t care so much if you feel misunderstood by a lot of people who don’t know you, as long as you feel understood by the people who do know you, the people who show up for you, and the people who see you as a human being.”
She was referring to when Kardashian posted a Snapchat video in 2016 showing Swift telling Kanye West that it was a compliment for the rapper to use her name in his song “Famous.” That rebuffed Swift’s claim that she never approved the lyrics.
At the same time, Kardashian sent out a tweet about how it was National Snake Day, which many people inferred was a remark about Swift.
“Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days,” Kardashian tweeted.
Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 17, 2016