Billboard apologizes to Taylor Swift for ‘error’ in video celebrating pop star’s achievements

Billboard has issued an apology to Taylor Swift and its readers for including a clip that “falsely depicted” the singer in its tribute video celebrating her career.

On Tuesday (November 26), the popular music magazine announced Swift, 34, in the number two spot on its list of “25 of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century.”

To commemorate the moment, Billboard posted a highlight reel of archival footage as well as clips from Swift’s old music videos intended to celebrate her career achievements.

However, several fans noticed that one of the clips briefly shown was from Kanye West’s controversial 2016 music video for his song “Famous,” which depicted a naked wax likeness of Swift.

“This is disgusting,” one Swift fan tweeted in response to the publication’s inclusion of the clip. Others demanded the outlet publicly apologize to Swift. The hashtags #BillboardIsOverParty and #BillboardApologizeToTaylor began trending.

Billboard has since removed the clip and uploaded a new version on Instagram, along with an apology.

“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. We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error,” the statement read.

The Independent has contacted Swift’s representative for further comment.

West’s song, which he dropped amid his years-long feud with Swift, included the lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**** famous.”

Shortly after its release, Swift condemned the song’s “strong misogynistic message” and denied ever approving being called “that b*****.”

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian, West’s wife at the time, then released a recording of a phone call that appeared to show Swift giving her consent to the song’s lyrics.

Kardashian claimed the clip proved Swift was a “snake” because the pop star said she had not been informed that West would call her a “b****” in the song.

However, in 2020, a full unedited version of the conversation was leaked, showing that at no point during the conversation did West mention that he would call Swift a “b****” in the song or claim he “made her famous.”

Swift later addressed the ordeal in a 2023 interview with Time magazine for her Person of the Year cover story.

“Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” the “Fortnight” singer said. “Kim Kardashian edited [it] and then put [it] out to say to everyone that I was a liar.

“That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year,” she added. “I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”