West briefly followed pop superstar with whom he has feuded for an unexplained reason. In an unexpected turn of events, Kanye West appeared to briefly put to rest his longstanding feud with Taylor Swift. The 47-year-old rapper, who will be competing in the Best Rap Song category at the 2025 Grammys, recently made his controversial return to Instagram to thank the Recording Academy for the latest nomination for his new song “Carnival.”.

And Swift was among the people he chose to tag in the since-deleted photo — in perhaps a subtle nod to their long history of infamous award ceremony fallouts. West, who in 2021 legally changed his name to Ye, then flaunted in a series of Instagram Stories that he was only following one person: Swift. His change of heart appeared to be shortlived, though, as he has since unfollowed the “Cruel Summer” singer.

West’s recent Instagram activity has understandably left fans puzzled, with several questioning his intentions. “He has to be trolling,” one fan commented in the now-deleted post. “Ye is wild,” a second noted, while a third agreed, simply writing: “Diabolical.”. “Or he’s trying to show respect to Taylor and get rid of the beef?” somebody suggested. “Showing respect by following her the day of the grammys and posting about it after he publicly humiliated her 15 years ago,” another said, alongside a raised eyebrow emoji.

Following the ceremony, Swift said she “started to feel like we reconnected” over dinners and conversations, adding that “I just so badly wanted that respect from him, and I hate that about myself, that I was like, ‘This guy who’s antagonizing me, I just want his approval.’”. Then, in 2015, as a kind of peace offering, West asked Swift to present him with the Vanguard award at that year’s MTV VMAs. He claimed on stage that MTV had only wanted Swift at the event for ratings purposes, causing Swift’s stance on him once again to shift.

The next year, West released his song “Famous,” which featured the lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex/ Why? I made that b**** famous.”. Afterward, West and his then-wife Kim Kardashian leaked a phone call that appeared to show Swift approving to have her name used in the song. While she denied the claims, many still branded her a “snake,” prompting her to take a step back from the public eye.

She reflected on the backlash in a 2023 interview with Time magazine, admitting that it felt like “a career death.” “Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” Swift said. “Trump’s back in office. Ye’s back a billionaire. The world might just be ok,” wrote the controversial star. He later said, in reference to the infamous red MAGA hat: “I risked my life to wear a red hat then he turned it black.”.