Taylor Swift And Kanye West Are A Lesson In Miscommunication

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Recording artist Kanye West (L) accepts the Vanguard Award from recording artist Taylor Swift onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/MTV1415/Getty Images)


Communication relies on shared meaning. For example, say you’re in an office meeting and a package gets delivered. You may put on a dramatic tone and say, “What’s the box?!” If your coworkers have seen the movie Seven, then you’ll probably get some smiles and laughs. If no one has seen Seven, then you’ll have that sublime moment of awkward silence followed by that awkward attempt to explain your reference.

Shared communication crops up in obvious and less obvious ways. You may tell your significant other you’re “running to the store for some things.” Odds are your partner will take that to mean the local grocery store and that you won’t be gone long. If you came home 5-hours later, with a brand new tractor, there’d be a lot of confusion and questions. For the people you’re closest to, you understand vague statements, inside jokes, and the slightest looks because of the many experiences you’ve enjoyed. Without those experiences, the vague statements are just vague statements. There are no inside jokes. And the slightest looks are full of mystery.

One of the less obvious ways shared communication is important is in scope. As in the difference between a broad vs. narrow scope. Someone who has a broad scope might think “I’ll be there soon” could mean within an hour (or more). While someone with a narrow scope might think it means within 10-minutes.

When communication isn’t shared, it sets the stage for one of the most infuriating evils in the world: miscommunication.

A great example of miscommunication is brought to us by Kanye West and Taylor Swift.

He said, She said

In 2016, drama broke out between the two superstars. During a sold-out listening party in Madison Square Garden for West’s new album, The Life of Pablo, the public heard, for the first time, these lyrics from the song “Famous”:

For all my Southside n****s that know me best/I feel like me a Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous

The reaction was immediate because the shared history between the two is well-known. In 2009, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards. The problematic-yet-iconic moment kicked off years of tension between the two. In 2015, the pair attempted to build a positive relationship. A friendship, even. There were phone calls. A dinner together. Swift even presented West with the MTV Video Vanguard Award.

Of course, headlines followed the debut of “Famous,” as the lyrics seemed to the outside world like a dramatic and crude escalation of a conflict the two had seemingly put to rest. Taylor’s team was swift with a response:

Swift’s team: Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, “I made that bitch famous.”
That prompted Kanye to respond, via Twitter.

West: I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her… First thing is I’m an artist and as an artist I will express how I feel with no censorship. 2nd thing I asked my wife for her blessings and she was cool with it. 3rd thing I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings. 4th Bitch is an endearing term in hip hop like the word [n***a]. 5th thing I’m not even gone take credit for the idea… it’s actually something Taylor came up with … She was having dinner with one of our friends who’s name I will keep out of this and she told him I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous! #FACTS

From February through July of 2016, people picked their sides. They either believed Kanye or believed Taylor (or didn’t care). Both artists came under attack. Momentum swung to Swift, though, and Kanye suffered the brunt of the blame, as people rejected his version of the phone call and trusted Swift’s. He had been the aggressor all those years before. He’s constantly causing controversy. Why would now be any different?

All that ended in July when West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, released on Snapchat footage from the much-talked-about call. The video changed the tide, as it appeared to disprove all three points from Swift’s initial statement.


1-West had sought Taylor’s approval.
2-Rather than caution West about releasing the song, Swift, in fact, says she’ll be supportive of it.
3-West specifically tells Swift he’s going to say “I made her famous.”

Of course, Taylor had her take on it:

Swift: Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world. Of course I wanted to like the song. I wanted to believe Kanye when he told me that I would love the song. I wanted us to have a friendly relationship. He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination. I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.
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