Katy Perry and Taylor Swift: Are They Finally Friends? The Definitive Timeline of Their Feud

In the latest plot twist I did not have on my 2025 bingo card, Katy Perry just publicly jammed to a Taylor Swift song. Yes, those two. Yes, out loud.

Katy Perry is listening to Taylor Swift again (no, you are not hallucinating)

Perry shared an Instagram story vibing to a track called 'Eldest Daughter,' and Pop Crave posted the moment on October 10, 2025. If you blinked and got confused: 'Eldest Daughter' is the song. The album it lives on is Swift's new one, 'The Life of a Showgirl.'

The album itself has been getting love for its theatrical, borderline Shakespearean streak and, obviously, Swift's whole storytelling thing that people latch onto. It is also selling like wildfire. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Swift moved about 3.5 million copies in week one, topping Adele's previous record. That is a bonkers number in 2025, or honestly any year.

How we got here: the Perry/Swift feud in one quick refresher

• 2009–2014: Friendly. Photos, tweets, the usual star-to-star mutual support.
• 2014: Things turn. In Rolling Stone, Swift described an unnamed fellow artist trying to mess with her arena tour. She did not name Perry, but she did not exactly hide the vibe either:

  'It was about the fact that she tried to sabotage an entire arena tour... We were just straight-up enemies. It was awkward.'

• 2015: 'Bad Blood' drops, widely read as a swing at Perry.
• 2017: Perry fires back with 'Swish Swish' featuring Nicki Minaj, which many took as a response to 'Bad Blood.' Not everyone loved it — actress Ruby Rose publicly knocked the track.
• 2018: The olive branch moment. Ahead of the 'Reputation' tour, Perry sent Swift an actual olive branch with a note that started 'Hey old friend,' plus a peace symbol. The envelope was sealed with a sticker of Perry's dog. Entertainment Weekly covered the gesture.
• 2019: The thaw is official. The two make it clear the feud is over.
• 2020: Swift sends a pastel pink silk baby blanket she hand-sewed, complete with personalized embroidery, to Perry and Orlando Bloom for their daughter.
• 2024/2025: Perry shows up to Swift's Eras Tour stop in Sydney, posts about it on Instagram (also covered by EW). Now, she is sharing Swift songs on her Stories. Circle closed.

The album cut making Travis Kelce squirm a little

Separate corner of the Swift-verse: a song on 'The Life of a Showgirl' called 'Wood' is the one people are side-eyeing if they care about the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce of it all. As Elle pointed out, it is the first time Swift has really opened the door on the intimate details of that relationship.

The lyrics are not shy. Sample: 'Forgive me, it sounds cocky / He ah-matized me and opened my eyes / Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see / His love was the key that opened my thighs.' There is even a wink to Kelce's podcast baked into the post-chorus: 'New Heights (New Heights) of manhood (Manhood).' If you are Travis, that might make you sweat under the helmet just a bit. Kylie Kelce reportedly has 'Wood' in her top three from the album, even if it made her squirm.

So... are they friends now?

Between the olive branch, the baby blanket, a stadium singalong in Sydney, and now Perry blasting 'Eldest Daughter,' it looks like the long-running rivalry has settled into something closer to mutual support. Pop stars — they are just like us, except when they move 3.5 million albums in a week.

Your move, 2025. What do you make of this truce, and which track from 'The Life of a Showgirl' is living rent-free in your head?