Yesterday, Kim Kardashian released video snippets of Kanye West talking to Taylor Swift on the phone about lyrics in his then upcoming song “Famous”. But because West apparently didn’t inform Swift that he was recording the call, he may have broken US federal wiretapping law.
AP Images
A source told TMZ that the phone call was recorded in a Los Angeles studio. California is one of 11 “two-party consent” states in the US, where both parties on the phone must give permission for the call to be recorded. According to a statement posted on Twitter and Instagram, it sounds like Swift did not know the call was being recorded at all:
That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet. pic.twitter.com/4GJqdyykQu
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 18, 2016
The legality of the recording will all depend on where the call was recorded. If TMZ’s source is correct, he may have broken the law in California. For example, if Kanye actually recorded the call in New York, a one-party consent state, he may be off the hook.
Wiretapping laws aside, however, it certainly does look like Swift made an about face from the time the call happened until she publicly denounced the lyric a few weeks ago. In the video clips, Kanye reads the lyric, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.” And she’s totally cool with it! Supportive, even. Swift now says that Kanye never played the song for her and never mentioned he would call her a bitch in the song.
We reached out to Swift, and her press agent replied with a screenshot of Taylor’s statement posted on Instagram and Twitter. We’ve also reached out to Kanye but had not heard back at time of writing.