In an unexpectedly candid revelation, Taylor Swift,

the pop sensation and Times 2023 Person of the Year,

has opened up about the toll that her infamous feud with Kanye West

and Kim Kardashian took on her mental health.

In a cover interview with Time magazine, Swift delved into the fallout from the 2016 phone call surrounding the controversial track “Famous.”

The incident, which unfolded in 2016, saw Kanye West, then 46, releasing the song “Famous” featuring a vulgar lyric about Taylor Swift. The controversy escalated when Kim Kardashian, 43 at the time, released an edited and recorded phone call between herself and Swift, leading fans to question Swift’s version of events.

Speaking to Time, Swift described the moment and the subsequent public reaction as a “career death” that took her down psychologically to a place she had never been before. “Make no mistake, my career was taken away from me,” Swift expressed, highlighting the impact of what she deemed a “fully manufactured frame job” involving an illegally recorded phone call edited by Kim Kardashian.

Recounting the aftermath, Swift revealed that the incident led her to take drastic measures. “I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard,” she disclosed.

Even before the feud with West and Kardashian, Swift acknowledged feeling vulnerable in her career, with some critics describing her as overexposed after the release of “1989.” Responding to the backlash, Swift released the revenge-themed album “Reputation,” but she admitted that she continued to struggle with the negative reaction.

“I thought that moment of backlash was going to define me negatively for the rest of my life,” Swift said of the critical response to “Reputation.” Despite the challenges, she emphasized her resilience and gratitude for her current position, having learned to focus on her work and persevere as an artist.

This isn’t the first time Taylor Swift has addressed her feud with Kanye West. In a 2019 Rolling Stone cover story, she provided context for the infamous phone call, stating that it was part of a chain reaction fueled by a history of strained dynamics between them.

Despite the passage of time, Swift has not received an apology from Kim Kardashian. In the wake of the Time interview, Swift’s fans, known as “Swifties,” flooded Kardashian’s Instagram comments with snake emojis, reigniting the long-standing feud. Sources close to Swift indicated that she would accept a public apology from Kardashian, emphasizing the lasting impact the incident had on her mental well-being.