A friendship between Kim Kardashian and Karlie Kloss was not on Us Weekly’s 2024 bingo card — but nothing brings two women together quite like Taylor Swift.
Swift, 34, released her album The Tortured Poets Department on Friday, April 19. Hours after the original 16 songs dropped, the singer announced The Anthology version of the record with another 15 songs, including one titled “thanK you aIMee.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that the track appears to be about Swift’s long history with Kardashian, 43, based on those capital letters.
To briefly recap, Kardashian put Swift on blast in 2016 following the release of Kanye West’s song “Famous.” (Swift had an issue with being referred to as “that bitch” in the track’s lyrics, claiming she wasn’t aware of the word choice. There was a leaked Snapchat video, some snake emojis and another leaked video seemingly clearing Swift’s name years later.)
While “thanK you aIMee” appears to tell Swift’s side of her feud with Kardashian — changing her name and “any real defining clues” — the song ends on a more positive note, “‘cause I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”
What Really Went Down Between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian?
Kardashian has yet to publicly address the song. “Kim isn’t happy about it but doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly, noting that Kardashian is “upset that Taylor is still harboring negative feelings toward her.”
On Tuesday, April 23, however, Kardashian shared a throwback photo with 31-year-old Kloss — who is Swift’s former best friend — that was originally taken in 2022. Some internet sleuths have interpreted the upload as a subtle dig toward Swift.
But how are Kardashian and Kloss even connected? Keep scrolling for a full breakdown:
The Trump Connection
Kardashian is longtime friends with Ivanka Trump, who has a connection to Kloss by marriage. Kloss exchanged vows with Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, in 2018.
Jared, of course, has been married to Trump since 2009, meaning Kardashian and Kloss may have crossed paths on various occasions through their inner circles.
All the Famous Names Taylor Swift Drops on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
The Model Connection
Kloss is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable models in the world — and so is Kardashian’s younger sister Kendall Jenner. In fact, Kloss and Jenner have been friends for years as their modeling careers have continued to grow together, providing another possible link to Kardashian.
The Fashion Connection
The selfie of Kardashian and Kloss was shared in honor of Derek Blasberg’s birthday. Currently the head of fashion and beauty partnerships at YouTube, Blasberg previously held positions at major fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and he even worked at Elite Model Management.
Due to his fashion and model connections, it is possible that Blasberg is responsible for bringing Kardashian and Kloss together.
The Music Connection
Kloss is friendly with Scooter Braun, who knows Kardashian’s ex-husband West. If the music mogul is the connection between Kloss and Kardashian, that makes things twice as interesting because of Swift’s ongoing feud with Braun.
Braun purchased the rights to Swift’s music masters when taking over Big Machine Records in 2019. After attempting — to no avail — to buy back the rights to her music, Swift decided to rerecord her first six albums.
