Kanye West—sorry, Ye—is back at it again and is trying to keep things minimal. In a very Ye-coded twist, he’s currently following exactly one person on Instagram: Taylor Swift. Yes, the same Taylor Swift whose decade-plus rollercoaster relationship with Ye has been filled with drama.
Naturally, X (formerly Twitter) went into overdrive. Swifties speculated. Ye stans defended. Memes flourished.
One user commented:
"It’s been 16 years move on already 😭"
A user hilariously noted:
"nurse he’s out again."
A user mentioned: "okay this beef is so tired and lame like please let it go."
A user declared: Kanye proposes to Taylor by the end of the year, I’m calling it 😂"
A user went on to say: "He’s gonna move across the street from here next."
"Right in time for the Grammies 😭😭", a user highlighted.
A comment read: "What would be world without kanye west non serious attitude 😂😂😂"
A user posted a meme with the caption that read:
"kanye following taylor swift like"
The Kanye-Taylor timeline
Act I: The infamous VMAs incident (2009)
The events began on September 13, 2009, at the MTV Video Music Awards. At the time of winning the Best Female Video award for You Belong with Me, Taylor Swift found herself delivering her acceptance speech when Ye suddenly took over the stage.
He seized the microphone and then spoke now-famous words:
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
Swift looked stunned and the audience was mortified. Even Beyoncé, the supposed beneficiary of Ye’s outburst, looked uncomfortable.
What followed was peak internet chaos. Even then-President Obama chimed in, calling him a “jackass.”
Ye later apologized on The Jay Leno Show, admitting he had crossed a line.
But that was far from the end of it.
Act II: The brief period of peace (2010-2015)
For a while, it seemed like both had moved on. Ye appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2010, expressing regret. Swift responded with Innocent, a track that seemed to extend an olive branch.
By 2015, things looked downright friendly. Swift presented Ye with the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs, they exchanged smiles, and Swift even nodded along supportively during his (very, very long) speech.
Act III: Famous and the great fallout (2016)
Then, Ye dropped Famous in 2016 and the track featured the now-infamous line:
“I made that b**h famous.”
Ye claimed he had Taylor’s blessing for the lyric. Taylor, through her reps, said absolutely not.
Soon Kim Kardashian, Ye’s then-wife, dropped video footage of a phone call where Ye and Taylor appeared to discuss the lyrics, igniting the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty.
Swift, however, used her Grammy speech that same year to deliver what many saw as a direct response:
“There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments.”
Act IV: The never-ending drama (2016-Present)
Taylor disappeared for a bit, then came back releasing Reputation in 2017 with subtle (and not-so-subtle) references to the drama.
Then in 2020, an extended version of the Ye phone call leaked.
In 2024, Taylor’s album, The Tortured Poets Department, seemingly took shots at Kim K and, indirectly, Ye with songs like thanK you aIMee (Swifties, of course, noticed the capital letters spell out KIM).
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Now, Taylor Swift is the only person Ye is only following on Instagram.
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