'We had grown past allowing ourselves to be pitted against each other,' Swift explained of the significant turning point.
It’s been more than a year since Katy Perry sent a “beautiful note and olive branch" to Taylor Swift on opening night of Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour.
Now, with the pair having rebuilt a friendship that the world just can’t get enough of -- and one highlighted in Swift’s new “You Need to Calm Down” video -- Swift is sharing how the two mended fences.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 1, the singer revealed that the two had been on “good terms” since Perry made the sweet gesture, but it was when they spent time together at a party that they truly reconnected.
“When we saw each other, it was just very clear to both of us that everything was different, that we had grown up, and that we had grown past allowing ourselves to be pitted against each other, and it just was very, very clear that we remembered how much we had in common,” Swift, 29, explained. “So, both of us have been in a really good place for a while, but I don't think either of us really knew if we were ever going to talk about it publicly.”
Swift then shared how Perry’s epic cameo in her latest music video naturally stemmed from the two rebuilding their bond.
“When I thought of this concept for the video, and I wrote the treatment, I thought of this idea and I thought, ‘You know what, I'm just going to ask her if she would be interested in this and I would totally be fine if she’d rather keep it private and keep it between us,’” Swift said. “But I sent it to her and she said, ‘I would love for us to be a symbol of redemption and forgiveness.’ And, I feel the same way about it.”
Asked how Swift worded her text message to 34-year-old Perry, asking her to be a burger in her video, Swift burst into laughter before recounting how she initially sent a long synopsis of the video.
“I didn't think of the burger and fries until she wore that Jeremy Scott burger to the Met Gala after-party and I was like, ‘That is amazing!’” Swift recalled. “Because it's so very punk rock to me -- that's really cool and funny. And, I was thinking we're going to have this moment in the video and if it’s too on-the-nose -- if it's too like us wearing normal clothes and hugging -- it won't really fit into this video because this video is very wacky and very surreal and fun and playful.”
“So, I was like, ‘Can we do a burger and fries as a metaphor for two people who belong together? Like two people who are like a perfect pair?’” Swift continued. “And she thought it was really funny and so we did it. I think the metaphor of us being, like, searching for someone who you have something in common with and then seeing them, and having it be visually represented is funny.”
According to an ET source, a huge part of Perry’s reasoning for doing the video was the strong messaging in support of LGBTQ equality.
“Katy agreed to do the music video because both she and Taylor are on the same page in regard to LGBTQ rights,” the source said. “They have both been big activists and feel very passionately about the cause. The video features RuPaul‘s Drag Race queens and many LGBTQ icons. That is why Katy agreed to do the video and put their issues behind them because she felt it was for a good cause that she cares about.”
See more on Swift’s fun, celebrity-filled video below!
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