Why Katy Perry Apologized to Taylor Swift After Years-Long Feud (Exclusive)

Katy Perry recently sent Taylor Swift a literal olive branch after years of feuding with her, and a source tells ET that Perry definitely gave her apology to the “Gorgeous” singer a lot of thought before sending it.

According to the source, Perry was even willing to keep trying if Swift didn’t accept it. Of course, Swift did respond kindly to the peace offering as well as Perry’s handwritten note, filming a video of it for her Instagram Stories and stating, “This means so much to me.”

“Katy planned a very personal, sweet apology and took time to write a kind note in hopes Taylor would see how much she cared about putting this behind them,” the source says. “Katy told friends if Taylor didn’t accept this apology, she would keep trying because she is done holding on to the past and wants to be part of the change in today’s society. She wants to set a good example for women, so she planned to never give up, if that is what it took.”

“Katy hopes they finally can be supportive of each other’s music and maybe one day soon even hang out together again,” the source adds. “Katy realizes they need to take it one day at a time, but that this is a great start.”

Swift, 28, and Perry, 33, have not so subtly been feuding since 2014, when Swift told Rolling Stonein a revealing tell-all that she had a beef with a fellow pop star, which inspired her hit song, “Bad Blood.” Since then, the two have taken numerous shots at one another — like when Swift put her entire singing catalog on streaming services on June 8, 2017, the day when Perry’s Witness album dropped — as recently as March, when Perry threw a little shade at her on American Idol.

“Katy and Taylor’s years of cruel comments about one another in their interviews, their shots at each other on their social media and their full-blown attacks in their music videos, continued to show their one goal — revenge,” the source claims. “In the beginning, both Katy and Taylor were to blame for their digs at one another, but Katy has been trying to make amends for some time. Each attempt by Katy to apologize or show Taylor respect went either unnoticed or worse, ignored.”

“Most of their friends have come to terms with their disdain for one another, but it hasn’t made social situations easy for anyone,” the source continues. “Their mutual friends often felt obligated to choose ‘Team Taylor’ or ‘Team Katy.'”

But according to the source, Perry has been eager to reconcile with Swift, and has been trying to cut out the negativity in her life.

“She hates that feeling of having bad blood,” the source notes. “She often told friends she wanted to end this fight with Taylor, but didn’t know how to make that happen. Katy’s attempts to apologize through her interviews seemed to have no effect on Taylor. She kept trying to show Taylor she cared and wanted to end this rift, but Taylor wasn’t having it.”

Although, this time, the message was definitely received.

“Thank you Katy,” the text on Swift’s video of Perry’s gift read, along with pink heart emojis.

Swift kicked off her Reputation tour on Tuesday at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Tuesday, where she made no mention of Perry or the end of their feud. She did, however, open up about her much-publicized drama with Kim Kardashian West.

“A couple of years ago, someone called me a snake on social media and it caught on,” she told the audience at one point during her show. “Then a lot of people were calling me a lot of things on social media and I went through some really low times for a while because of it. I went through some times when I didn’t know if I was going to get to do this anymore.”

“I guess this means I wanted to send a message to you guys, that if someone uses name-calling to bully you on social media, and even if a lot of people jump on board with it, that doesn’t have to defeat you,” she continued. “It can strengthen you instead.”

For more on Swift’s epic show, including the sweet shout-out she gave to her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, watch the video below:

— Reporting by Adriane Schwartz

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