Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry is the pop star beef that keeps on giving.
On Thursday, Perry released the star-studded video for "Swish, Swish" -- her diss track widely speculated to be about Swift -- ahead of Swift's highly anticipated first single off her new album, Reputation, dropping Thursday night. While there have been rumors that the two are ready to put their differences aside at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday -- which Perry is hosting -- the producer behind this year's VMAs, Garrett English, told ET on Wednesday that it's "not happening."
"Not so far, no. That's not happening as far as [I know]," English said, directly addressing the speculation. "I've certainly seen all the rumors flying around, but that's not happening."
Let's take a look back at how the entire Perry vs. Swift feud started:
Sept. 8, 2014: Taylor Swift tells Rolling Stone she has a new song about a pop star nemesis
Prior to Swift's revealing Rolling Stone tell-all, Perry and Swift appeared to be friends, gamely posing at awards shows together.
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
But Swift had everyone talking ahead of the release of her GRAMMY-winning 1989 album, thanks to her quotes to the music magazine, in which she revealed she had a feud with a fellow pop star, which inspired her hit, "Bad Blood."
"For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not," Swift said. "She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'"
"She did something so horrible," Swift continued. "I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn't even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me.”
Several internet commenters then noted that Perry did lure a few backup dancers away from Swift's tour as she embarked on her own Prismatic tour in 2014. However, according to one of the dancer's agents, the dancers "exercised a 30-day out in their contracts and left Taylor, but Katy didn't steal them."
"They just didn't want to tour with her anymore because there is basically no choreography or dancing in her show," the agent claimed.
And while Swift did say that the feud had nothing to do with a boy, both previously dated singer John Mayer.
Sept. 9, 2014: Perry calls Swift a "mean girl"
Perry didn't shy away from Swift's Rolling Stone comments, tweeting the next day, "Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing..."
In January 2015, Perry confirmed the tweet was pointed at Swift.
"If somebody is trying to defame my character, you're going to hear about it," Perry told Billboard magazine when asked if her tweet was about the "Shake It Off" singer.
May 23, 2015: Swift says she will never, ever talk about Perry again
In an interview with The Telegraph, Swift made it clear she was over Perry.
"I'm not giving them anything to write about," Swift said when asked about Perry. "I'm never going to talk about her in my interview. It's not going to happen."
Though, she did confirm she had her "enemies" in the business.
"It's not real if someone appears to never have any issues with anyone," she explained. "I have my friends. I have enemies."
July 22, 2015: Perry hits back at Swift over Nicki Minaj fight
The pop star feud was resurrected when Perry jumped in on the Twitter beef between Swift and Nicki Minaj over the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards nominees.
"If I was a different 'kind' of artist, 'Anaconda' would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well," Minaj tweeted, getting vocal about her VMA snub. “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year."
Swift took the tweet personally, responding, “I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other.”
Perry then chimed in with a devastating tweet referencing "Bad Blood."
"Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman..." she wrote.
July 27, 2015: Swift throws 'left shark' shade at Perry during concert
Swift appeared to be back at it again later that month, seemingly trolling Perry during her Foxborough, Massachusetts, stop during her 1989 world tour. Her performance of "Bad Blood" curiously featured a cameo from a life-sized shark mascot -- a not-so-thinly veiled dig at Perry's Super Bowl dancer-turned-internet meme.
Check out Swift's gleeful reaction:
July 13, 2016: Calvin Harris brings Swift and Perry's feud to the forefront, Perry responds
Swift's ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, brought up Swift and Perry's bad blood when he slammed Swift on Twitter last July. Harris was upset after Swift's rep confirmed that the singer wrote Harris and Rihanna's summer hit, "This Is What You Came For," under the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg -- when the two were still a couple -- and after Swift began dating actor Tom Hiddleston.
"Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though," he tweeted, after initially praising Swift. "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do."
"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," he continued.
Perry later tweeted out a GIF of Hillary Clinton shooting out an epic 'I told you so'-look shortly afterward.
Adding more fuel to the fire, Perry then retweeted her own tweet from May 2015, where she wrote, "Time, the ultimate truth teller."
Sept. 10, 2016: Perry says she would collaborate with Swift if she apologizes
Looks like all Perry's looking for is an apology.
After a fan on Twitter asked, "Will you ever collab with Taylor Swift?", Perry surprisingly tweeted back, "If she says sorry, sure!"
Oct. 26, 2016: Perry rocks out to Kanye West's 'Famous' Taylor Swift diss
Well, that didn't last long.
Perry once again rekindled their beef while celebrating her 32nd birthday at Kanye West's concert at the Forum in Inglewood, California, last October, sharing video of herself dancing along to West's now infamous Swift diss in his song, "Famous."
May 20, 2017: Perry talks "Swish, Swish," says it's an "anthem" against bullying.
Though Perry never mentions Swift in her song, "Swish, Swish," the song is clearly slamming somebody, and of course, fans couldn't help but notice that that "swish" isn't so far off from Swift. "From a selfish or a sheep/ Don't you come for me/ No, not today/ You're calculated/ I got your number," Perry sings. "'Cause you're a joker/ And I'm a courtside killer queen/ And you will kiss the ring/ You best believe."
"So keep calm, honey, I'ma stick around/ For more than a minute, get used to it," she continues. "Funny my name keeps comin' outcho mouth/ 'Cause I stay winning."
"I think it's a great anthem for people to use whenever someone's trying to hold you down or bully you," Perry told Jimmy Fallon about the song during her appearance on The Tonight Show in May. "That's kind of what this record is about. It's just like [a] 360-degree liberation. ... I think 'Swish' represents the liberation from all the negative that doesn’t serve you."
Of course, some of Swift's pals definitely didn't see it that way. Ruby Rose took to Twitter to defend Swift and slammed Perry, writing, "Purposeful poop" to 'bomb a petit' to a sloppy mess of writing over the top of Funkagenda..stop trying to make 'Wit..I mean 'fetch' happen."
"I've always stood up for the people I love and against things I think are cheap or mean spirited. That's not new. You have to follow your ❤," she continued. "I just think with everything going on in the world to go from rebranding as political activist only to ditch it and go low.. is.. a bummer."
May 22, 2017: Perry says Taylor Swift 'started' their feud and that 'it's time for her to finish it'
Perry didn't hold back during her Carpool Karaoke segment with James Corden, addressing the beef head-on.
"Honestly, it's really like she started it and it's time for her to finish it," Perry said after the Late Late Show host asked her to clear things up. "She wouldn't speak to me. I do the right thing any time that it feels like a fumble. It was a full shut-down and then she writes a song about me and I'm like, 'OK, cool, cool, cool. That's how you wanna deal with it?'"
"But, what I wanna say is that I'm ready for that B.S. to be done," ahe added. "Now, there is the law of cause and effect. You do something and there's going to be a reaction. And trust me, Daddy, there's going to be a reaction. It's all about karma." ("Swish Swish," coincidentally, has a line about karma: "Karma's not a liar.")
June 8, 2017: Perry slams Swift for 'trying to assassinate' her character
Perry wasn't quite done talking about Swift. In an interview with NME, Perry gave background on why she decided to address the feud with Corden.
“I mean, I’m not Buddha -- things irritate me,” she said. “I wish that I could turn the other cheek every single time, but I’m also not a pushover, you know? Especially when someone tries to assassinate my character with little girls [her fans]. That’s so messed up!”
June 8, 2017: Swift puts her entire catalog back on streaming services -- right when Perry's new album drops
Actions speak louder than words. Though Swift has stayed silent on Perry's comments about her, she announced on June 8 that her entire catalog will return to all streaming services at midnight -- just when Perry's Witness dropped.
Perry was later asked about whether or not the move bothered her during an interview with the Today show's Natalie Morales.
"I don't know, I can only do me," Perry replied. "All I need to say to her is I love her, and God bless her on her journey. And that’s it."
June 10, 2017: Perry says she's '100 percent' ready to 'let go' of Swift feud
Perry made it clear she was ready to make amends with Swift during a conversation with Arianna Huffington in June, which was live streamed to promote Witness.
"I'm ready to let it go. Absolutely, 100 percent," Perry said of the longtime beef. "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."
"There are bigger fish to fry, and there are bigger problems in the world," she continued. "I love her and I want the best for her, and I think she's a fantastic songwriter, and like, I think that if we both, her and I, can be representatives of strong women that come together despite their differences, I think the whole world is going to go, like, 'Yeah, we can do this.' Maybe I don't agree with everything she does, and maybe she doesn't agree with everything I do, but like, I just... I really, truly, want to come together, and in a place of love and forgiveness, and understanding and compassion."
June 12, 2017: Perry changes a key 'Swish, Swish' lyric
Perry backed up her conciliatory quotes by pointedly changing a few lyrics while singing "Swish Swish" during an outdoor concert for her fans. Instead of singing the line, "Don't you come for me," in the first verse, Perry sang, "God bless you on your journey, oh baby girl."
July 19, 2017: Perry says she's 'always loved' Swift despite their 'differences'
Perry hasn't stopped trying to make nice with Swift.
In an interview on Australia's Today show, Perry reiterated that she had love for Swift. "I mean, I love her, I always have," Perry told host Richard Wilkins. "We've had our differences, but I just continue to say, 'God bless her on her journey.'"
While Swift hasn't acknowledged Perry's compliments, Twitter has been abuzz that the ladies are finally putting their beef behind them at the VMAs -- just as Swift did with West at the 2015 VMAs when she presented the Video Vanguard award to the rapper, and when she jumped onstage to open the show with Minaj after their Twitter feud that same year.
For more on the speculation that Swift and Perry will team up at this year's VMAs, watch the video below.
