Billboard on Thursday apologized regarding a video compilation of Taylor Swift that inadvertently showed a clip from a Kanye West video depicting a wax figure that looked like the pop singer n*k*d in bed with him via Fox News.
“We are deeply sorry to Taylor Swift and all of our readers and viewers that in a video celebrating Swift’s achievements, we included a clip that falsely depicted her,” the magazine wrote on social media early Thanksgiving morning.
“We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error.”
A community note on X about Billboard’s apology stated, “The clip stated by Billboard as being ‘falsely depicting’ was a video clip from Ye’s ‘Famous’ music video. Portraying a n*k*d Taylor Swift wax figure recreation, among other celebrity men and women, the music video was revenge porn. This is illegal in most U.S. states.”
In his controversial and explicit 2016 music video “Famous,” West not only depicted himself in bed with Swift, his now-ex-wife Kim Kardashian, now-President-elect Trump, Anna Wintour, Rihanna and others, he also claimed credit for Swift’s fame.
“I made that b—- famous,” he raps in the song, also saying, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have s*x.”
For the past 15 years, the two musicians have had a complicated relationship. This tension began when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, claiming that Beyoncé deserved the award more than she did.
Recently, Billboard shared a video montage of Swift’s career highlights on its Instagram page after naming her the second-greatest pop star of the 21st century. The identity of the number one pop star will be revealed next week.
Several commenters wrote, “Apologize publicly to Taylor Swift,” before the magazine added the mea culpa in a note on the same Instagram post.
