Why has Billboard apologised to Taylor Swift?

Billboard has issued an apology after including a clip from a Kanye West music video in a clip about Taylor Swift.

The music publication and chart company has been counting down its list of the 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century and Swift was ranked second.

A video announcing the news of where the ‘Blank Space’ singer was ranked led to uproar from her fans because the clip included a scene from Kanye West’s ‘Famous’ music video in it.

The West video led to controversy when it was released in 2016 as it depicted wax figures of himself, Swift, his wife at the time Kim Kardashian, and other well-known celebs sleeping naked in a bed together.

West and Swift had made amends before the release of the video, after the rapper’s 2009 MTV VMAs interruption on stage when he halted Swift’s acceptance speech at the ceremony.

In 2016, despite claims from Kardashian that Swift was aware of West’s plans for the ‘Famous’ lyrics, a recording of the phone call they had suggested otherwise.

Swift released a statement after the song's release. She said: "Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination".

Swifties — the name given to Swift’s fan base — were outraged when they spotted a clip of the Swift wax figure from the controversial music video. The runner-up position likely added fuel to the fire.

Billboard has since removed the video from social media and commented on this decision in a statement shared on X.

"We are deeply sorry to Taylor Swift and all of our readers and viewers that in a video celebrating Swift’s achievements, we included a clip that falsely depicted her. We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error."

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