Billboard issues apology to Taylor Swift after including distasteful Kanye West clip in video package

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy) ORG XMIT: 776091486 ORIG FILE ID: 1987932445
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy) ORG XMIT: 776091486 ORIG FILE ID: 1987932445

Billboard has been rolling out its ranking of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century, naming Taylor Swift in the No. 2 spot on Tuesday.

In the video created to celebrate the 34-year-old's achievements, Billboard made the baffling decision to include a clip from Kanye West's music video for the song "Famous" where he included a wax figurine of a naked Swift and the line "I made that [expletive] famous."

The music magazine faced massive backlash online for the unforced and head-scratching error as the duo have a fraught history, dating back to 2009 when West interrupted Swift on stage at the MTV Music Awards.

Understandably, fans of the singer were furious. Billboard eventually deleted the video and re-posted it without the clip on Wednesday, but it took until 1am ET -- over a day later -- on Thursday morning to issue an apology to the The Tortured Poets Department singer.

"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," Billboard said on social media. "We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error."

With #BillboardIsOver trending on X (formerly Twitter) over the last two days, it's unclear how well the apology will go over.

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Billboard issues apology to Taylor Swift after including distasteful Kanye West clip in video package