After months of speculation — and a few juicy hints — we finally have proof that two of pop’s favorite icons, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, have called an end to their feud. But of course they didn’t just come out and say it. Instead, we were treated to the reunion via the most glamorous kind of gossip-fueling medium: a music video.
At 8:15 a.m. on Monday, June 17th, singer, songwriter and famous feud-er Swift released the video for her new single “You Need To Calm Down” on YouTube. The night before, Swift had tweeted a short clip that let us know to look out for some celebrity cameos, including Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Reynolds, Laverne Cox, and RuPaul. But one name that was (unsurprisingly) missing from the list was Katy Perry’s.
A little history lesson. Perry and Swift officially went from BFFs to never ever getting back together in 2014, when Swift told Rolling Stone magazine that an unnamed female friend had betrayed her. According to Cosmopolitan, it turned out Perry had hired three of Swift’s backup dancers to perform at her world tour for her 2013 album Prism — when they were supposed to be finishing up their jobs at Swift’s Red tour. The dancers left, Taylor vented her feelings, Perry responded with a Mean Girls-inspired tweet, and from there, the bad blood ran. (Not literally, but Swift’s song “Bad Blood” is supposedly written about her fight with Perry.)
Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing...
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) September 9, 2014
Over the next four years, Swift refused to discuss the fight, while Perry went into it a little with James Corden in a segment of Carpool Karaoke.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tvxzLK3rFs&feature=youtu.be"]But mostly they kept it to thinly veiled references on Twitter, in live shows, and yes, in music videos, like Swift’s 2017 snake-themed single “Look What You Made Me Do,” which features a Perry lookalike crashing a car and then posing in the wreckage.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tmd-ClpJxA&feature=youtu.be"]According to Cosmopolitan, for the last two years Perry has been saying that she’s ready to drop the feud and make friends again — for instance, in an interview with The Thrive Global Podcast. And the first sign that the clouds were clearing came in May 2018, when she sent Swift a literal olive branch with a note, which Swift posted to her Instagram Story:
Katy Perry reached out to Taylor Swift with an actual olive branch on the first night of her #ReputationTour 🕊 pic.twitter.com/jZOjQrMi6K
— Capital Buzz (@capital_buzzz) May 9, 2018
From there, Perry liked an Instagram photo of Swift’s new kitten, and Swift added Perry’s latest single to her personal playlist — and the rumors of a collab took off.
Things got even more exciting on June 12th, when Perry tagged Swift in a photo of a plate of cookies with a cryptic message on Instagram.
And now the pair have moved from feud to… food?
Back to that new video we mentioned. As Swift promised, it contained more celebrity appearances than a TMZ airing.
And right at the very end, a familiar face popped up… from a burger costume!
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkk9gvTmCXY&feature=youtu.be"]In the middle of a food fight, we see Swift, dressed as a carton of fries, spot Perry, dressed as a burger. The two tentatively approach each other (as you would after, you know, a four-year-long cold war). In a scene straight from a hunger-driven dream, the burger and fries dance together and then hug.
Swift further confirmed the message of peace in a tweet with a very enjoyable pun:
A happy meal 🍔 🍟 💗 pic.twitter.com/hPAbOZEsKF
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 17, 2019
And Perry came up with one of her own:
By the way, if you think you’ve seen that costume before, you’d be right. Perry originally wore her burger outfit, complete with a toothpick hat, to an after-party for this year’s Met Gala (after starting with a chandelier dress for the red carpet):
If Swift and Taylor are pleased to be reunited, their fans are ecstatic.
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry just singlehandedly saved 2019 https://t.co/HrU8yb5jwF
— the tortured Noah department (@noahlevy13) June 17, 2019
For those who’ve been following the saga from the start, this is a turning point worthy of the history books:
In a word: iconic.
Iconic 👑 @katyperry & @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/nnmR4NZHqL
— Team Katy Perry Brasil (@teamkpbrasil) June 17, 2019
Even fans of other friends-turned-rivals are seeing this as cause for hope:
And the moment has already become a meme:
There's no feeling like it ❤️#YNTCDMusicVideo @katyperry @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/U9B1wmYxXf
— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) June 17, 2019
But hold the parade, because this temporary reunion isn’t enough for the Perry/Swift stans.
Still waiting for that collab @katyperry @taylorswift13 😉 pic.twitter.com/rrG7eGJ7jC
— Leidy (@itsl8dy) June 17, 2019
And since Swift is famous for incorporating Easter eggs into her work — hidden symbols that hint at what’s to come — fans are already playing detective:
Love letters ONLY - is this a clue about TAYLORxKATY collab ???? #YNTCDmusicvideo pic.twitter.com/j5F5yh1UQg
— mel’s imperfect for you 🫧 (@saturnxreturnss) June 17, 2019
In fact, we even had an Easter egg predicting Perry’s appearance in the video for “You Need To Calm Down,” a few seconds before Perry herself appeared. Right before the food fight breaks out, we see drag artists standing in line on a stage, each portraying a pop superstar. Out identifies them all, including Riley Knoxx as Beyoncé, Trinity the Tuck as Lady Gaga, Jade Jolie as Swift — and second from the right is Adore Delano as Katy Perry, wearing the sparkly red-hooded outfit the singer wore on her 2017 Witness tour.
📹 | Adore appears in Taylor Swift’s new music video “You Need To Calm Down” embodying Katy Perry pic.twitter.com/IUyub1SO3h
— ADORE DELANO DAILY l 🧜🏼♀️ (@adoredailyx) June 17, 2019
So we should have seen this coming!
NO ONE EXPECTED THIS COUPLE😍😍😍 TAYLOR SWIFT ❤️ KATY PERRY #YNTCDMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/Tat6mNn9pt
— anonymouslypretty (@andureyanikol) June 17, 2019
Is this the restart of a beautiful friendship? We can’t wait to find out if Swift and Perry will go from fast food to fast friends all over again.
