Upon its release , " Famous " was met with both critical acclaim and scrutiny for a controversial lyrical reference to American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift , partially in relation to West 's interruption of her 2009 VMA acceptance speech . After West claimed to have obtained Swift 's approval over the criticized lyric , Swift denied the claim , criticizing West and denouncing the lyric as " misogynistic " in a statement . Several months later , West 's wife Kim Kardashian released a video capturing a conversation between Swift and West in which Swift appears to approve the lyric
2009 VMA
2009 MTV Video Music Awards
Famous (Kanye West song)