Taylor Swift gets groveling apology from Billboard for using controversial 'naked' Kanye West clip in career highlights

Taylor Swift received an apology from the music publication Billboard after it included footage of an infamous nude wax figure in her image in a video meant to celebrate her career.

The shocking display originally came to light when her longtime nemesis Kanye West, 47, used it and nude figures of other celebrities in his Famous music video.

Billboard was quickly beset by a wave of angry fan complaints over using the nude was figure.

‘'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,’ the publication wrote in an apology post shared on X (formerly Twitter) just after midnight on November 28. ‘We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error.’

Notably, the shot has now been removed from the video tribute.

So far, it's unclear how the inappropriate image made its way into Billboard's career highlights reel.

On Thursday, a corrective community note was appended to Billboard's apology after being vote up by X users.

It noted the wax figure's origins in West's Famous video, then went on to claim that 'the music video was revenge porn,' which is 'illegal in most U.S. states.'

However, because of the fact that the figure was created by an artist and was apparently not intended to be for explicitly sexual purposes, it's unlikely that it could be classified as revenge porn for the sake of prosecution.

However, in a Forbes post published after the video was originally released, Nicholas Rozansky argued that Swift, 34, might have been able to sue West for copyright infringement if the sculpture was based on an existing copyrighted photo or other image. 

She may have also had the option to sue for defamation or libel due to the sexual nature of the sculpture, or possibly using California's Right to Publicity law, which allows individuals to 'control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal aspects of one's identity.'

Ahead of the release of the groveling apology, Swift's fans lambasted Billboard on social media for the video, which named her the second-greatest pop star of the 21st century.

The figure came from the 2016 music video of Kanye West’s controversial song Famous, which features the lyric: ‘I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**** famous.’

In the divisive video, the naked waxwork was placed in a bed next to others of high-profile individuals such as Amber Rose, Donald Trump, Rihanna, and Kanye himself.

At the time, the move was criticized as being misogynistic, and Taylor and Kanye were embroiled in an ongoing feud.

‘Taylor is furious after seeing Kanye’s video. She feels like she’s been assaulted,’ a source told Hollywood Life at the time. 

So, after Billboard chose to include that clip in the video that was celebrating her success and achievements, many fans were left seething, despite the publication posting an apology.

After Billboard posted its apology, fans continued to rage.

'Okay, Billboard‘s intention was to recap everything that happened in her entire career, i get that. But was it really necessary to include THAT scene? Just nasty, disrespectful and unprofessional. #BillboardIsOverParty,' one person wrote.

'Taylor and her team should take strict action cuz that was so unprofessional and problematic on billboard’s part.' 

'That was intentional and nasty.'

'They honestly could've used one of her many photos and they chose something that's not even really her. the disrespect.'

'Disappointing choice by Billboard, disrespecting Taylor's boundaries again.' 

'I just saw what @billboard did. YOU ARE DISGUSTING!!! I hope Taylor never attends again in your f****** stupid awards!!! #BillboardIsOverParty'

'@billboard there’s no justification for digging up that footage and including it in an homage to Taylor that was supposed to celebrate her artistry. Callously using not just her trauma, but a crime against her likeness to generate attention towards your list demands an apology.'

'@billboard was mentioning the kanye feud and the famous video and lyrics really important in announcement video for taylor in greatest artists list?? how’s that relevant to her legacy and accomplishments??? you’re a piece of s***!'

'It’s baffling that Billboard would resurface that footage, used to humiliate and harass Taylor Swift, and include it in a video meant to honor her artistry. This level of disrespect is outrageous. She deserves an apology #billboardisoverparty'

'Let’s be clear—this was no ‘error.’ It was malicious intent, thoughtfully produced to shame. Billboard deliberately used a revenge porn image to disrespect Taylor Swift in a video meant to celebrate her achievements. Whoever approved this must be held accountable.'

MailOnline has contacted Billboard for comment. 

The seeds of the feud between Taylor and Kanye were planted at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

In the infamous exchange, Kanye infamously interrupted Taylor during her victory speech for the Best Female Video award for You Belong With Me, which had been nominated against Beyonce's Single Ladies.

He emerged on the stage and took the microphone from the singer, telling her, 'Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all-time! One of the best videos of all-time.'

While the musical stars appeared to be on better terms in the years following - they were pictured at a number of events in the years after - things blew up after the release of Famous.

Kayne claimed at the time that Taylor had given him her blessing to refer to her as a 'B****' in the lyrics of the song, in a reference to the VMAs incident. 

Taylor said she never made such an agreement, leading to a public feud with West after he and his former wife Kim Kardashian in July of 2016 released a call West and Swift had over the contents of the Famous song.

Kim alluded to Taylor as a snake upon the release of the call, saying in a tweet, 'Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!'

In 2019, Taylor spoke to Vogue about how she dealt with the high-profile scandal, saying she channeled her energies into her material.

'A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,' she said of the difficult time. 'When you say someone is canceled, it's not a TV show. It's a human being.

'You're sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, "Kill yourself."'

The newest Billboard backlash comes after fans went ballistic on social media after learning that ranked her the second greatest pop star of the 21st century rather than giving her the number one spot.

After bestowing her the covetable title, the outlet recognized that the inevitable controversy that would 'tear through the internet over her being just one small space below No. 1 is just another testament to her power.'

While defending their decision not to give her number one which will presumably go to musical powerhouse Beyoncé, Billboard reminded readers that Swift got a 'much later' start in the millennium in both 'the genre and music in general.'

Still, Swifties were enraged by the editorial decision made by Billboard's staff, who undertook the difficult task of ranking the top 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century.

Underneath the announcement on Instagram, a number of  fans expressed their outrage as they referred to the list as a 'joke' and firmly insisted the Fortnight hitmaker had been 'robbed.'

'This is pathetic and should ACTUALLY be corrected,' one commented. 'Who approved this list? First of all, yalls bs lists are always unbelievably inaccurate.' 

Another wrote: 'She deserved #1 don’t even lie she is the biggest artist of all time not just of the century.'

'How according to Billboard was Taylor the 8th on thr "greatest artist of all time list" but she isn’t the greatest artist of this century???? Beyonce isn't even top 10 AND It was before folklore, evermore, all the tvs, midnights, the eras tour, TTPD????' a third asked.