Billboard magazine has apologized after posting a tribute video to Taylor Swift that featured an illegally nude wax figure of her created by Kanye West several years ago.
On November 28, when Billboard named Taylor Swift the second greatest pop star of the 21st century, the magazine included a video summarizing the milestones of her music career. However, the video included a controversial clip from Kanye West’s music video for “Famous , ” in which a nude wax figure of Taylor was placed next to Kanye on a bed.
Singer Taylor Swift. Photo: TAS
Fans were outraged by the video, expressing their disapproval with the hashtag “BillboardIsOverParty”. After receiving backlash from the audience, the famous American music magazine quickly cut the clip from the video and apologized. “We deeply apologize to Taylor Swift and all our readers and viewers for including a clip in our video praising the singer’s achievements that misrepresented her,” the magazine wrote on Instagram. “We have removed the clip and sincerely apologize for the harm caused by this error.”
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Billboard honors Taylor Swift (video edited by magazine)
Kanye West’s 2016 music video for Famous was criticized for its explicit and offensive depictions of Taylor Swift . The video featured the rapper lying in bed with a wax figure of his then-wife, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, and other celebrities including Taylor Swift. The image illustrates Kanye’s line: “I think I could still sleep with Taylor Swift/ Cause I made that person famous.”
Taylor was upset when Kanye put a rap with an insulting word for her in the song Famous . This incident was one of the most scandalous scandals of that year and caused Taylor Swift a lot of mental and reputation damage. The female singer chose to hide, retreat to compose and then “take revenge” with the album Reputation .