Artist Who Worked on Kanye’s ‘Famous’ Video Didn’t Think Anyone ‘Gave a S***’ About Taylor Swift Amid Feud

Ten years after the music video for “Famous” kicked off controversy between Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West), Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift, a special effects artist reflected on the controversy. The music video features realistic sculptures of various public figures, including Swift. Special effects artist Michael Dinetz did not think Swift would be the most controversial figure in the video.

Kanye West’s ‘Famous’ video caused controversy with Taylor Swift

The music video for “Famous” features sculptures of public figures like George Bush, Swift, Ray J, Caitlyn Jenner, and Bill Cosby. Jenner came out as transgender a year prior, so Dinetz thought she would be the most controversial figure. He had no idea that West and Swift had a history together.

“I don’t think anybody in the effects world really gave a s*** about Taylor,” Dinetz told Us Weekly. “Most of the people working on it never even knew that a feud happened.”

While Dinetz is now aware of the controversy, he said he doesn’t regret working on the music video.

“It’s a music video for what would be considered, in terms of status, a high-ranking artist,” he said. “It would be no different than when I worked on a Marvel movie. On a résumé, it’s great.”

Taylor Swift said she agreed to the ‘Famous’ line to try to mend things with Kanye West

The song reignited the feud between Ye and Swift, which began after he interrupted her speech at the 2009 VMAs. Swift said that the line about her was the culmination of many instances in which she felt wronged.

“Some events took place to cause me to be pissed off when he called me a b****,” she told Rolling Stone. “That was not just a singular event. Basically, I got really sick of the dynamic between he and I. And that wasn’t just based on what happened on that phone call and with that song — it was kind of a chain reaction of things.”

In 2015, Swift said Ye asked her to give a speech to present him with his Vanguard Award at the VMAs.

“He can be the sweetest,” she said. “And I was so stoked that he asked me that. And so I wrote this speech up, and then we get to the VMAs and I make this speech and he screams, “MTV got Taylor Swift up here to present me this award for ratings!”

She said the moment devastated her.

“I’m standing in the audience with my arm around his wife, and this chill ran through my body. I realized he is so two-faced. That he wants to be nice to me behind the scenes, but then he wants to look cool, get up in front of everyone and talk shit. And I was so upset.”

While she didn’t want to talk to him afterward, she said she still wanted to be on good terms with him. She felt happy that he told her about the reference to her on “Famous.” When she heard the song, though, she felt that she would be on permanent bad terms with him.

She said the controversy put her in a dark place

Years later, Swift is still not happy with Ye or Kardashian. After Kardashian released snippets of a phone call between Ye and Swift, the singer faced significant backlash.

“Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” she told Time in 2023.

She said it took her a long time to recover from this.

“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,” she said. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.”

She said she retreated from the public eye and struggled to trust people after this moment.