EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Swift Was 'Moments From Quitting Showbiz' Over Catty Feud With Kim Kardashian
Taylor Swift almost called it quits on her career thanks to Kim Kardashian.
Sept. 23 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Taylor Swift came "excruciatingly close" to walking away from fame altogether after her bitter feud with Kim Kardashian spiraled into one of the most vicious online backlashes in pop culture, a new Channel 4 documentary reveals.
As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, the 35-year-old singer, one of the world's most successful recording artists, was at the center of a firestorm in 2016 when Kardashian, now 44, branded her a "snake" in a viral tweet that unleashed a wave of targeted abuse.
Why Did Swift Want To Quit?
The feud between Swift and Kardashian left the singer questioning whether she wanted to continue with her career.
The incident, which followed years of tension linked to Kardashian's ex-husband Kanye West, pushed Swift to withdraw from public life and left her questioning whether to continue her career at all.
A contributor to the documentary claimed, "Taylor was moments from quitting. The level of vitriol after Kim's tweet was staggering. Death threats were pouring in, her reputation was shredded overnight, and she felt there was no way to fight back."
Another fan interviewed for the film added, "She could have saved a million babies and solved world hunger, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Once that snake narrative stuck, she was powerless. To have something of that magnitude go completely off the rails – there was no stopping it, no matter what she did."
The 'Snake' Tweet Heard Round The World
Kardashian's 'snake' dig at Swift led to chaos.
Kardashian's tweet came on July 17, 2016, when she wrote: "Wait, it's legit National Snake Day?!?!? They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!"
She punctuated the post with snake emojis. Her post revived the hostility first sparked in 2009 when West, then her partner, stormed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to protest Swift's victory at the ceremony. A visibly shaken Swift, just 19 at the time, stood by as West declared that Beyoncé "had one of the best videos of all time."
The documentary, a two-part series airing on September 30, explores how the 2016 feud marked a pivotal point in Swift's career. It shows how the "snake" label metastasized into memes and hashtags that dominated social media, prompting Swift to retreat from the spotlight for nearly a year.
A new doc highlights the feud between the two stars.
Her subsequent period of silence, fans say, was the closest she came to abandoning music altogether. The new film includes testimony from online commentators, industry insiders, and devoted 'Swifties,' who chart the singer's journey from ambitious teenage songwriter to one of the most scrutinized women in modern entertainment.
Rare archive footage is also promised in the film, offering new insights into how Swift rebuilt her career in the years after her feud with Kardashian and West.
Director Guy King said: "Taylor Swift is an unprecedentedly powerful 21st-century voice for women and young people. Under the microscope of social media since the earliest days of MySpace and Tumblr, she came of age during a new feminist wave.
"With her fame came controversy, which she so skillfully wrestled to the floor. We're excited to tell her story."
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The 'Bad Blood' hitmaker stepped away from the spotlight during the nasty feud.
Shaminder Nahal, Channel 4's head of specialist factual, added: "We're thrilled that Sandpaper and Guy King will be bringing their caliber of storytelling to chart the impact of Taylor Swift on today's culture. Her journey has been nothing short of epic, and we're keen for this series to reflect all the joy and artistry, the heartbreaks and high stakes, of her stunning career, while also showing viewers sides of Taylor Swift that they might not know or expect."
The two-part series airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday, September 30, at 9:15 pm.
