Taylor Swift has revealed that she felt “lower than I’ve ever felt in my life” after Kim Kardashian called her a snake in 2016.
In a column for Elle, the pop superstar opened up about what she called “petty bullying” by Kardashian, who she did not identify by name.
“A few years ago, someone started an online hate campaign by calling me a snake on the internet. The fact that so many people jumped on board with it led me to feeling lower than I’ve ever felt in my life,” Swift wrote, "but I can’t tell you how hard I had to keep from laughing every time my 63-foot inflatable cobra named Karyn appeared onstage in front of 60,000 screaming fans. It’s the Stadium Tour equivalent of responding to a troll’s hateful Instagram comment with ‘lol.’
"It would be nice if we could get an apology from people who bully us, but maybe all I’ll ever get is the satisfaction of knowing I could survive it, and thrive in spite of it.”
Swift said she has also learned to deal with the ugly side of social media by disabling comments.
“That way, I’m showing my friends and fans updates on my life, but I’m training my brain to not need the validation of someone … I’m also blocking out anyone who might feel the need to tell me to ‘go die in a hole ho’ while I’m having my coffee at nine in the morning.”
Swift revealed that she was “terrified” to go on tour following the bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester and the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
“My fear of violence has continued into my personal life. I carry QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds,” she said. “Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I’ve ever had online. You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things.”
Swift, who turns 30 in December, penned the list of 30 things she has learned for the magazine.
"Becoming a Taylor Swift fan was one of the best things I did as a kid," singer Camila Cabello tweeted, along with a link to the article, "and I feel like that even more now in my early 20’s, what an amazing role model and woman to look up to, I feel so thankful she exists."