The long-standing cold war feud between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift has had fans on both sides of the spectrum speculating since Taylor launched her infamous shots about it in a 2014 Rolling Stone cover story preceding her excellent album 1989. For her part, Perry has needled Swift with a few subtweets but mostly remained quiet on the subject — classy.
However, obviously interviewers are going to ply Perry with questions about it non-stop, and she has to say something. So in the lead up to her new album, she was doing a Q&A with Entertainment Weekly and did have quite a few things to say in response to a question about “Bad Blood.” She clarifies several times — this answer is NOT about one person. Uh huh. Read the exchange below via Entertainment Weekly:
Entertainment Weekly: “There are rumors that “Bad Blood” is about you. Does this album have a reaction to “Bad Blood”?”
Perry:
“Well that’s not my question to answer — if it’s about me. I think [my new album is] a very empowered record. There is no one thing that’s calling out any one person. One thing to note is: You can’t mistake kindness for weakness and don’t come for me. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. And that’s not to any one person and don’t quote me that it is, because it’s not. It’s not about that. Honestly, when women come together and they decide to unite, this world is going to be a better place. Period end of story. But, let me say this: Everything has a reaction or a consequence so don’t forget about that, okay, honey. [Laughs] We got to keep it real, honey. This record is not about anyone else! This record is about me being seen and heard so that I can see and hear everyone else! It’s not even about me! It’s about everything that I see out there that I digest. I think there’s a healing in it for me and vulnerability. If people want to connect and be healed and feel vulnerable and feel empowered and strong, God bless and here it is.”
You’ll notice, though, that Katy used a Kanye lyric in part of her response: All of my kindness / Is taken for weakness was a key line in his unlikely collab with Rihanna and Paul McCartney, “FourFiveSeconds,” and given Yeezy’s own history with Taylor, Katy’s invocation of that up above says a whole lot on its own.
