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Billboard Apologizes to Taylor Swift After Controversial Mistake

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Andrew McCarty | Last updated Nov 28, 2024 8:28 AM ET

Earlier this week Billboard announced Taylor Swift as the No. 2 on its Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century countdown.

Unfortunately, in the video announcement, the company published an image of Swift depicting her likeness in bed with Kanye West from a controversial music video of the song, "Famous." Fans immediately pointed out the glaring mistake from Billboard, which announced it removed the clip from the video and issued an apology to Swift for the error.

"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," Billboard wrote on social media.

Swift revealed the devastating impact the video and subsequent claims from Kanye's then-wife Kim Kardashian had on her life in an interview with "Time" magazine in 2023, via Newsweek.

"Make no mistake—my career was taken away from me," she said. "You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar. That took me down psychologically to a place I've never been before."

"...I moved to a foreign country. I didn't leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn't trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard."

Swift is set to close out her record-setting Eras Tour at BC Place in Vancouver early next month after over 150 shows across five continents.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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