It has been one of the most bitter feuds in pop music history: a war of often subliminal words between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry that began in 2013. But now, in an act of dovish diplomacy those monitoring the North Korea situation might learn from, Perry has extended an olive branch to her rival – in the form of an actual olive branch.
Swift posted a video of the gift from Perry on Instagram, which comes with a note that can partially be read, beginning: “I’ve been doing some reflecting on past miscommunication and hurt feelings between us.” Swift captioned the video “thank you Katy” and said: “So I just got to my dressing room and found this actual olive branch. This means so much to me.”
The feud between the pair started after Perry poached a trio of backing dancers from Swift’s Red tour for her own Prismatic tour, a rumour later confirmed by one of the dancers, Lockhart Brownlie, who said: “We weren’t really dancing on Taylor’s tour anyway, so I got a little bored.”
The incident prompted Swift to write one of her biggest hits, Bad Blood, about an unnamed pop star who she said “basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour”. Perry fired back on Twitter, again without naming Swift: “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing,” referring to the villain in the movie Mean Girls.
Perry discussed the incident further in a 2017 interview with James Corden, saying “I tried to talk to her about it and she wouldn’t speak to me. She started it, and it’s time for her to finish it.” Despite Swift releasing her back catalogue on Spotify the same day as Perry released her new album – widely interpreted as a way of distracting attention from it – Perry said soon after: “I forgive [Swift], and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her.”
The olive branch gift was delivered to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where Swift was performing the opening night of her Reputation world tour, which features six dates in the UK and Ireland beginning 8 June in Manchester.
