Why Did ‘Miss Americana’ Omit Key Moments From the Taylor Swift-Kanye West Feud?
The drama that is the long-standing Taylor Swift-Kanye West feud is touched upon once again in the new Netflix documentary about her life. But did it really depict the whole story? Here’s what was missing from Miss Americana.
Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s drama began at the 2009 VMAs
It’s become one of the biggest pop culture moments of the ’00s. Taylor Swift took the stage to accept the award for Best Video by a Female Artist at the MTV VMAs. But before she could speak, Kanye West got on stage and took the microphone, declaring that Beyoncé should have won the award instead.
They appeared to move past things in subsequent years. However, the feud came back with a vengeance when West’s 2016 single “Famous,” in which Swift is mentioned, came out. Then there was the release of a phone call in which she agrees to a particular line and her “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative” post. Since then, the artists have remained unfriendly.
This was rehashed in her documentary ‘Miss Americana’
All of this was included in the new documentary about Swift, which is now on Netflix. Swift said that the 2009 incident “was sort of a catalyst for a lot of psychological paths [she] went down. And not all were beneficial.” She thought the crowds jeers that night were directed at her, not West.
When the opportunity to make up with the rapper came around in 2015, Swift took it. Which is what made the next year’s events even more upsetting to her. “People decided I was wicked and evil and conniving,” she said of the backlash.
Beyoncé’s part in the night was missing
But not everything that happened on that night in 2009 was included in Miss Americana. As Ira Madison III points out on the podcast Keep It, the Beyoncé of it all wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
For those who may have forgotten, Beyoncé came up on stage later that night to accept the award for Best Video of the Year for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Instead of giving her speech, she invited Swift onstage to finish what she had started before West interrupted her.
What about Swift’s part in all of this?
Does leaving out what Beyoncé did ignore an important part of the story? That’s certainly a perspective that should be considered. But even if the main focus is on Swift and West’s evolving feud over the years, there’s another side that isn’t really touched on in Miss Americana.
“There was a concerted effort to remove any of the retaliations she did to Kanye in the midst of all of that,” said Madison on the podcast. Swift is shown singing “Look What You Made Me Do” as well as “Call It What You Want,” both of which reference the incident, but from there, the documentary moves on from the subject.
West hasn’t commented on the drama in a while. So maybe Swift’s camp felt that it was adequate just to show how it affected her choices in her career for the documentary’s sake. Whatever the case, maybe this is truly the end of the public feud.
