Ye Sparks Speculation by Following Only Taylor Swift on Social Media Ahead of Grammys

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Just hours before the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, rapper and fashion mogul Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, stirred speculation about his relationship with Taylor Swift by revealing he was following only one person on social media: the pop superstar.

“1 following,” Ye, 47, posted to his 20.6 million followers, sharing a screenshot of his profile. The next post showed Swift, 35, as the lone person he follows. As of Saturday night, Ye had unfollowed everyone — including his wife, Bianca Censori — except for Swift, according to reports.

In addition to the cryptic social media move, Ye also posted about his recent nomination for “Carnival,” his collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, which is up for best rap song at this year’s ceremony. The track, also featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last March.

“Thank you to the Grammies for nominating Carnival,” Ye wrote alongside a photo of a Grammy trophy. The image tagged Swift, Ty Dolla $ign, Playboi Carti, Rich the Kid, and the Recording Academy.

It remains unclear whether Ye will attend the ceremony, which is set to air live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Swift and Beyoncé, both nominated for album of the year, are expected to be in attendance. Beyoncé leads the nominations with 11, while Swift has six, including nods for “The Tortured Poets Department” and “Cowboy Carter.”

Ye and Swift’s relationship has been one of the most scrutinized in the music industry. It began in 2009 when Ye interrupted Swift’s VMA acceptance speech to declare that Beyoncé deserved the best female video award instead. Though the two eventually reconciled, their tension reignited when Ye claimed in his 2016 track “Famous” that the incident helped launch Swift’s career.

When Swift criticized Ye for the song, he claimed he had received her blessing on a phone call before its release, which she denied. His then-wife Kim Kardashian later posted an edited recording of their conversation, portraying Swift as a liar. However, it was later revealed that Ye had not sought Swift’s approval for all the lyrics, particularly the line: “I made that b—- famous.”

“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” Swift told TIME in her Person of the Year cover story in December 2023. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. 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.”