• Billboard used a clip from Ye's 2016 music video "Famous" to recap Taylor Swift's career.
• The clip featured a nude wax figure of Swift lying in bed with Ye and other celebrities.
• After backlash from fans, Billboard apologized for including it.

Over the past few months, Billboard has revealed its rankings for the best pop artists of the 21st century. On Wednesday, Billboard announced that the No. 2 spot belongs to Taylor Swift and published an Instagram video recapping her career.

While some Swifties were disappointed to see her in second place, the real backlash against Billboard involved a short clip within the video.

Referencing a yearslong feud between Swift, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), and Kim Kardashian, the clip featured the infamous wax figure of Swift in Ye's 2016 music video "Famous." In it, Swift's figure is nude and lying in bed next to Ye and other celebrities.

The backlash from fans prompted Billboard to remove the clip from its video and apologize to Swift on Wednesday.

The inclusion of the clip, which critics have described as "revenge porn," prompted fierce criticism on social media. On X, Swifties started the hashtag #BillboardIsOverParty, a nod to #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty in 2016 (also connected to "Famous.")

'Famous' ignited Swift and Ye's ongoing feud

In 2016, Ye released "Famous," which featured the lyric, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous." The lyric referenced the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Ye stormed the stage and said Beyoncé should have won the Best Female Video award instead of Swift. The "Famous" music video included the naked figure of Swift.

After Swift disputed Ye's claim that she approved the lyric, Kardashian (at the time married to Ye) posted short clips of a phone call between Swift and Ye, showing Swift approving of the line "I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex."

Swift was called a snake on social media, and the incident partly inspired her 2017 album, "Reputation."

The feud was reignited a few times: first in 2020 when a longer clip of the phone call revealed Swift being opposed to Ye using the word "bitch." The next time was in 2024 when Swift released several tracks about Ye and Kardashian in "The Tortured Poets Department."

Swifties united with other fans

Many Swifties were angered by Billboard using the clip. X user @ryoqko referred to the move as "Just nasty, disrespectful and unprofessional."

Fans of other top artists, such as Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, and Nicki Minaj, also tweeted at and about Billboard.

Swift's fan base has a history of banding together for a cause. When Ye surpassed Swift as Spotify's top global artist, Swifties collectively streamed Beyoncé's "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" to push Ye out of the No. 1 spot.

• Drake's company Frozen Moments filed a petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify.
• The petition was in relation to rapper Kendrick Lamar's diss track about Drake, "Not Like Us."
• The filing claims that Spotify and Universal used bots and payola to increase the track's popularity.

Kendrick Lamar and Drake's rap feud continues as Drake begins legal action against Lamar's track "Not Like Us."

Earlier this year, the two hip-hop giants' years-long resentment culminated in an explosive diss track battle.

Lamar's final diss track "Not Like Us" was the biggest hit of the battle, crowning Lamar the winner in the public sphere. "Not Like Us," which contains lyrics calling Drake a pedophile, topped the Billboard 100 charts for two weeks and received five Grammy nominations.

Now, Drake is disputing the song's success.

On Monday morning, Drake's company, Frozen Moments, filed a pre-action petition in a New York court against Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG), the record company that owns Lamar's label Interscope and Drake's label Republic Records.

The petition states that UMG used bots and payola to inflate the streams of "Not Like Us" and influence its perceived public success.

The petition says UMG charged Spotify 30% lower licensing fees for the song, in exchange for the streaming platform to recommend "Not Like Us" to users searching for unrelated songs and artists.

It also claims that UMG paid third-party companies to use bots to artificially inflate the streams of "Not Like Us.""

"In 2024, UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices, to 'break through the noise' on Spotify," the petition read.

The petition, alleging racketeering, deceptive business practices, and false advertising to promote "Not Like Us," is not a fully fledged lawsuit. The filling is a request by Drake's lawyers asking the court to order Spotify and Universal to preserve documents related to the claims ahead of legal action.

The filing claims that Drake suffered "economic harm" because UMG "saturated the market" with Lamar's diss track, at the "expense of other artists, like Drake." The attorney also said that when Drake brought these claims to UMG, representatives from the company told Drake to sue Lamar rather than Universal, and threatened to sue Lamar if Drake sued them.

A spokesperson for Universal Music Group told Business Insider: "The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.

"No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear."

A representative for Lamar and Drake did not immediately respond to a comment request from BI. A representative from Spotify declined to comment.

Hiphop fans are mocking Drake and criticizing his move to legal action

Diss track battles are a common occurrence in the hip-hop world, but it's rare for a rapper to turn to legal action over lyrical beef.

Hip-hop fans have criticized Drake's move on social media. Pop-culture writer Bolu Babalola called the petition a "spectacularly loserish move" in a post on X.

Fans speaking out on X thought it was bizarre that Drake was taking legal action over the song's success and not the lyrics' allegations of pedophilia.

Other fans said escalating rap beef in court felt like Drake did not understand Black culture.

Fans also said they felt Drake could have recovered from losing the battle by laying low and releasing good music. But suggested the fallout from the lawsuit might harm Drake's reputation further.