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Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports and an avid Taylor Swift fan, openly celebrated Swift’s recent musical jab at Kim Kardashian with the track “thanK you aIMee” from the “Anthology” edition of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Portnoy, 47, enthusiastically shared his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “#KIMKARDASHIAN GOT WRECKED,” shortly after the song’s release. He zeroed in on a particular lyric, which many believe references Kardashian’s daughter, North West: “And one day, your kid comes home singin’ / A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.” Portnoy expressed his anticipation humorously: “I NEED TO SEE HER KID SINGING LYRIC [sic] ABOUT WHAT A DIRTBAG HER MOTHER IS.”
He also praised the 34-year-old pop star for the subtle way she emphasized the feud by capitalizing the letters “KIM” in the song’s title, noting, “No defining clues besides capitalizing her name. I love Taylor.”
Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/WireImage
Portnoy continued his commentary on Instagram, lauding the song as Swift’s “magnum opus” and again calling Kardashian a “rat” and a “snake” in a video with the caption, “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Sing it Northwest! SING IT!!!!”
While Swift has yet to officially confirm that “thanK you aIMee” targets Kardashian, 43, the song has sparked a flurry of speculation among the singer’s fans on social media. Another lyric referring to a “bronze, spray-tanned statue” of a school bully has further fueled the debate, with many suggesting the dig is directed at the reality TV star.
This song adds another layer to Swift’s long standing feud with Kardashian, which began in earnest in 2016 when the SKIMS founder released snippets of a phone call between Swift and her husband at the time, Kanye West, regarding his song “Famous.” Swift later accused West of “character assassination” for not disclosing a derogatory line in the song, claiming the call was “illegally recorded.”
Swift has spoken about the deep impact this feud had on her, telling TIME in their 2023 Person of the Year interview how it drove her to a very dark place: “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before,” she reflected. “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.”
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