Katy Perry Taylor Swift feud: What was the beef between the singers?

12 June 2019, 14:28 | Updated: 18 June 2019, 15:12

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift have called a ceasefire on their long-term feud. But what was the beef about in the first place? Here's a reminder...

Taking to Instagram on 11 June, 2019, Katy Perry shared a pic of a plateful of chocolate chip cookies with the words 'peace at least' scrawled in red icing on the plate.

In the caption, the 'Never Really Over' singer wrote: "feels good @taylorsiwft" with an orange heart Emoji. She also tagged her location as "Let's Be Friends".

Taylor then replied with a series of pink hearts - 13 to be precise, because it's her favourite number. Since, both Swifties and KatyCats have gone into meltdown.

Now, Katy Perry has featured in Taylor Swift's new music video for 'You Need To Calm Down', dressed as a beef burger. In the clip, KP hugs Taylor (who's dressed as French fries).

But what was their feud about in the first place and how long did it last? Here's the lowdown...

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feels good 🧡 @taylorswift

A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Jun 11, 2019 at 4:52pm PDT

What was the Taylor Swift / Katy Perry beef?

2009 - BFFs

Ah...2009...it was a simpler time. It was also a year when TayTay and KP were 100% buddies.

In July that year, Taylor tweeted: "Watching the Waking up in Vegas video. I love Katy Perry. I think I'm going to hang her poster on my wall now."

Katy then replied: "You're as sweet as pie! Let's write a song together about the subject we know best...for my new record. It'll be brilliant."

2009-2013 - John Mayer romance

During her Fearless tour - for which Katy joined her on-stage - Taylor was rumoured to be dating John Mayer.

While their romance was never confirmed, it is thought both 'Dear John' and 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' were written about him.

Skip forward a few years and Katy Perry started dating the 'Your Body Is A Wonderland' heartthrob - they even released the songs 'Who You Love' and 'Spiritual' together in 2013.

2014 - dancer disaster

Shortly before Taylor embarked on her Red world tour, she enlisted backing dancers who had previously toured with KP.

Katy, who was going on tour a few months later, was then apparently approached by the same dancers and asked if they could join her Prism tour. They left Taylor's tour halfway through, and this appears to be the situation that triggered the feud.

2015 - 'Cos baby now we got bad blood

Taylor's then sizeable Girl Squad - including the likes of Hailee Steinfeld, Gigi Hadid, Ellie Goulding and Cara Delevingne - all featured in her epic music video for 'Bad Blood', which seemed to be sending a very clear message to someone.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift hinted that her new song 'Bad Blood' was about another female pop star.

She said: "She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me."

Katy then kicked off on Twitter, saying: "Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing..."

2015 - MTV Video Music Awards drama

In July 2015, Taylor was nominated for the video of the year award for 'Bad Blood'. She was going up against Beyoncé's '7/11', Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright', Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk' and Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud.'

Taylor then celebrated the nomination, asking fans to vote for her.

That same day, Nicki Minaj tweeted about being snubbed by MTV, feeling her 'Anaconda' music video deserved some love.

She hit out, tweeting: "If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year."

Swift then responded to Nicki, feeling like the tweet was a jab at her: "@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.."

Nicki then responded: "Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn't say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this. @taylorswift13"

Katy Perry then seemingly chimed in, tweeting: "Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman..."

2016 - Calvin, Katy and Taylor

After meeting for the first time back in 2015 and attended the BRITs together that same year, Taylor Swift started dating Scottish DJ, Calvin Harris.

The relationship lasted just 15 months - ending in June 2016, shortly after Taylor was filmed dancing with The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston at the Met Gala in May.

After rumours started circulating that Taylor wrote lyrics for Calvin's hit song 'This Is What You Came For', the DJ finally snapped, first tweeting: "Hurtful to me at this point that her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though."

He then added: "I figure if you're happy in your relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear down for something to do."

A previous tirade of Calvin's included this jab: "I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it."

For her part, Katy tweeted: "Time, the ultimate truth teller."

She then shared a GIF of Hilary Clinton giving off 'I told you so' vibes.

2017 - Carpool Karaoke

Hitching a ride with British comedian and The Late Late Show host, James Corden, Katy Perry blasted Swift on camera and addressed those feud rumours.

Perry stated: "She started it, and it's time for her to finish it."

Katy later apologised to Swift about what she said in the bit, saying: "I'm ready to let it go." She then added: "I forgive her, and I'm sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her, and I think it's actually - I think it's time."

2018 - Olive branch

Katy Perry then went on to send Taylor Swift an actual olive branch, with a note that appeared to feature the words "miscommunication" and "deeply sorry".

Swift shared a video of her opening the package on her Instagram Story.

2019 - Cookies

I mean, who doesn't like cookies??

Taylor has now sent KP a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies, and has scrawled the words "peace at last" in red icing, along with two peace symbols.

2019 - The burger to my fries

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift's beef is officially over, as KP features in TayTay's new music video for 'You Need to Calm Down'. The pair - dressed as a burger and fries, respectively - hug it out on camera.

So...we think it's all good now and we're out of the woods?