Taylor Swift is finally ready to talk about the Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Snapchat incident of 2016. Or at least the aftermath.
During the kickoff concert of her Reputation Stadium Tour on Tuesday night in Glendale, Ariz., the pop megastar opened up for the first time about the major social media backlash she experienced two years ago — and admitted that she initially thought it might ruin her career.
In case you forgot about the story that took over the Internet in 2016, Swift publicly condemned West for calling her a “b—-” and taking credit for her fame in his new song, “Famous.” But then Kardashian uploaded a secretly recorded phone call to Snapchat that seemed to show Swift knew about the lyrics in advance and gave her stamp of approval.
Swift strongly disputed that account and called it “character assassination,” yet it was too late: The Internet branded Swift a snake. Kardashian gleefully fueled the flames. Shortly after, Swift went underground — at least, as much as possible for an A-list star.
Her disappearing act lasted until she released her latest album, “Reputation,” in November. While the album’s name and several songs appeared to address that her public image took a hit, Swift didn’t elaborate, nor did she give any interviews — she hasn’t talked to the press since the Kardashian-West situation. But on Tuesday, she got a bit more personal onstage with the 55,000-plus fans in attendance.
“You might be wondering why there are so many snakes everywhere, huh?” Swift asked, sitting at a piano more than halfway through the show. Sure enough, Swift has embraced the snake imagery for this album cycle, from her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video to merchandise. During the concert, screens showed images of massive snakes; there was…
