How Will Taylor Swift Take Her Revenge Against Kanye West For “Famous”?

Well, we assume it'll at least come swiftly.

The fallout from Kanye West’s NSFW music video for “Famous” has been massive, incurring the wrath of Lena Dunham and demanding comment from at least one former President.

Of course, just as Kanye likely planned it.

The video closes with a shot of synthetic models representing (deep breath) West, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, Anna Wintour and George W. Bush, all sleeping peacefully in a giant bed that must be an absolute bear to make.

As was reported earlier this week, most of the celebs featured in West’s artistic endeavour have kept quiet, except for Chris Brown, who implied on Instagram he was tickled by it, and Bush and Trump’s reps, who didn’t seem all that annoyed.

Sources close to Swift, however, said she was “mad as hell” and was “strategising with her team as to what her next move should be.” Ominously, the sources added, “writing a song dissing him isn’t enough payback for something like this.”

Kanye, in a since-deleted Tweet, seemed eager for a lawsuit ("Can somebody sue me already #I'llwait”) and it seems Swift might actually be mulling one over. All of this led Rolling Stone to wonder, can Taylor Swift sue Kanye West over his “Famous” video?

The mag concludes “of course she can”, adding that “the real question is whether it’s worth the effort.”

On that latter point, Rolling Stone suggests Swift doesn’t have much to gain from legal action.

If she filed her (hypothetical) lawsuit in California, she could invoke the Right of Publicity statute, which “prevents someone from using a person’s name or ‘likeness’ to sell a commercial product without his or her consent.”

Though “Famous” is being used to spruik the flagging streaming service Tidal (where it’s being exclusively hosted), the Right of Publicity statute can’t prevent “artistic uses of celebrity image”, and don’t tell Kanye he’s not an artist.

If Swift wanted to sue for defamation, she’d have to prove that the video suggests Kanye literally had a 12-way with Swift, his wife’s step-mother, the current presumptive Republican nominee for President and Bill Cosby. Any defamation case would not be helped by the fact that it’s very difficult for public figures and celebrities to prove that their reputation has been irreparably damaged by a music video.

Rolling Stone concedes that Swift could send West a tersely-worded cease and desist letter, but any further legal action would simply result in massive costs for both parties, and no changes to the video in the long run.

It’s likely Swift’s legal advisors – if she even asked for their advice, as we still don’t know for certain how she feels about the “Famous” clip – told her any legal action would be fruitless.

So, if a lawsuit is off the table, and a diss track “isn’t enough”, what form of retaliation can Kanye expect from Swift?

Oh… oh, we already know. We've known all along.

Photo: Tidal.