Is Taylor Swift’s ‘thanK you aIMee’ about Kim Kardashian?

19 April, 2024

Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian West attend the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/WireImage)

Fans have been speculating whether or not Taylor Swift‘s new track ‘thanK you aIMee’ is about Kim Kardashian.

Swift released her 11th studio LP ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘ today (April 19) as well as surprise releasing an anthology version with an extra 15 songs. ‘thanK you aIMee’ is a part of the newly added tracks and has left fans believing that the song was aimed at the reality TV star who has had a history with the pop singer.

For starters, The letters capitalised in the title spell out ‘Kim’, immediately connecting the song to the Kardashian. ‘thanK you aIMee’ sees Swift disscuss a seemingly fictional story of a feud between the singer and someone named Aimee from her hometown who was a bully and ended up being celebrated.

Theories about the song’s meaning began appearing on social media and on the lyric analysis website Genius. Lyrics such as: “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin'” has led fans to believe that this was a reference to “Kardashian’s attempt to ruin Taylor’s career during the phone scandal backfired on her and boosted Taylor to an even higher level of fame,” (per Genius).

The theory for that lyric comes from the feud between Kardashian and Swift in 2016 after the release of the reality TV star’s ex Husband – Kanye West‘s track ‘Famous’. In the song, West claimed that he made Swift famous following the infamous 2009 MTV VMAs incident.

Kardashian had claimed that Swift had approved the lyrics on the song and even released audio of a phone call where she gave it the OK.

Check out more fan theories below:

In a three-star review of the album, NME shared: “‘The Tortured Poets Department’ ends up chasing its own tail with frenzied attempts to respond to critics despite Swift’s current stature.”

It continued: “Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at. It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing – she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”

Elsewhere, fans have also been speculating that the track ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is about The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. The pair were romantically linked for a short period time in 2023.

According to fans, the title track ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ sees Swift reference Healy, with a lyric seemingly describing an ex-lover as a “tattooed golden retriever”. She also seemingly makes smaller hints at Healy, singing: “You smokеd then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist / I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever“.

Fans have also been reacting after she gave Charlie Puth a shout out on her album. In the past, the singer-songwriter has declared his admiration for Swift, often covering her songs during his shows. “This is why she’s such a genius, man,” he said while performing her early hit ‘Teardrops On My Guitar’ in 2021 (via People).

That same year Puth also welcomed Swift to TikTok before she responded: “I’ve lurked your account for ages! Thanks for the welcome, piano prince.”

In other news, The National‘s Aaron Dessner has admitted to being “forever grateful” to have worked on Swift‘s new album.

The post Is Taylor Swift’s ‘thanK you aIMee’ about Kim Kardashian? appeared first on NME.