25 Times Celebs Have Shaded Their Exes
Taylor Swift is on here a bunch.
Taylor Swift vs. Joe Jonas (2008, 2009)
Not long after Joe broke up with an 18-year-old Taylor over the phone, she blasted him on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "When I find that person that is right for me, he'll be wonderful. And when I look at that person, I'm not even gonna be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18," she said. That same year, Taylor mentioned Joe and the phone call again in a video shared on her official MySpace. Holding a Joe Camp Rock doll and a Taylor doll, T.Swift said, "See this one even comes with a phone, see, so he can break up with other dolls… Stay away from him, OK?" In late-2009, during her Saturday Night Live opening monologue, Taylor went for Joe again: "I like writing songs about douchebags who cheat on me… I like writing their names into songs so that they're ashamed to go in public," she sang with a guitar in hand, likely referencing "Forever and Always," which is definitely about Joe.
Sam Smith vs. Jonathan Zeizel (2015)
In his acceptance speech for Record of the Year for "Stay With Me" at the 57th Grammy Awards, Sam thanked his ex-boyfriend, actor and model Jonathan Zeizel. "Just a quick one. I want to thank the man who this record is about, who I fell in love with last year. Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys."
Jennifer Garner vs. Ben Affleck (2016)
Less than one year after announcing their separation, Jennifer spoke candidly to Vanity Fair about the "nannygate" scandal, confirming that the nanny "was not a part of the equation." Jennifer also offered this about Ben: "I always say, 'When his sun shines on you, you feel it.' But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it's cold. He can cast quite a shadow." (Yes, the line is borrowed from The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Ben's BFF Matt Damon.)
Katy Perry vs. Diplo (2017)
During a livestream to promote her album, Witness, Katy was tasked by guest James Corden to rank her exes "from best to worst in bed." The winner was John Mayer, followed by Orlando Bloom, which means Diplo ranked last. In response, Diplo tweeted, "I don't even remember having sex."
Rihanna vs. all her exes (2016)
On a classic fall day in October 2016, Rihanna took down all of her exes – Drake, Chris Brown, Matt Kemp, and even Leonardo DiCaprio (rumored) – with a single Instagram, and she didn't even have to show her face. A text-only gram that says, "None of my exs (sic) are married or in happy relationships so it's safe to say that I wasn't da problem lol," has received close to 1 million likes. Is Rihanna the best or what?
Taylor Swift vs. Harry Styles (2013)
Besides writing songs about Harry ("I Knew You Were Trouble," "Style," to name a couple) Taylor also delivered performances about her ex-boyfriend. In 2013, Taylor opened the Grammys with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (that one's about Jake Gyllenhaal) with Harry watching in the audience. When it came to the speaking part about him calling her, Taylor used a British accent and tweaked the lyrics to "I'm busy opening the Grammys." Later that year, in her acceptance speech for Best Female Video for "I Knew You Were Trouble" at the VMAs, Taylor thanked "the person who inspired this song, who knows exactly who he is, because now I got one of these. Thank you so much!" (This is also the same ceremony where she was caught mumbling "Shut the fuck up" during 1D's acceptance speech.)
Calvin Harris vs. Taylor Swift (2016)
After 15 months of dating, Tayvin called it quits and began a war over songwriting credits on "This Is What You Came For." In response to Taylor's camp publicly confirming that she used the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg to write the song, Calvin wrote (via a series of tweets that have since been deleted), "Please focus on the positive aspects of YOUR life because you've earned a great one… I know you're off on tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it." He also referenced Taylor's new relationship at the time with Tom Hiddleston: "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do."
Taylor Swift vs. Calvin Harris (2017)
The shade storm between Taylor and Calvin was so intense, here's another entry! Following the Nils Sjoberg drama, Taylor put the final nail in Nils' coffin, literally, when she rose from the dead near his tombstone in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video. (He's dead, along with the old Taylor, is what we are to believe.) When Taylor later released her Reputation magazines, she reminded the world – and Calvin – once more of her work as Nils, adding "Written by: Taylor Swift aka Nils Sjoberg" on the "…Ready For It?" lyric page.
Taylor Swift vs. Tom Hiddleston (2017)
In addition to mocking Tom's "I [HEART] T.S." Fourth of July tank in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video, Taylor seemingly threw her ex British beau under the bus in the Reputation track, "Getaway Car." Do spend some time with this informative breakdown, here, but in short: Taylor used Tom to leave a relationship (Calvin) that was already on its way out, according to the song.
Drake vs. Rihanna (2017)
Drake and Rihanna have been on-and-off for years, but in the early hours of 2017, he decided to sprinkle some shade. While at a New Year's Eve party (with then-rumored flame J.Lo), Drake made the DJ change the song when "Work" came on. "That was an old vibe," Drake reportedly said of the Bad Gal.
Sophia Bush vs. Chad Michael Murray (2014)
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Sophia said of her ex-husband Chad (they married and divorced in 2005), "My mother once said to me that if you don't have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all." She later added that marrying her One Tree Hill co-star was a bad idea. "For me, my job is my priority, and so it really helped me just let go of it and be like, 'Look, at the end of the day, we were two stupid kids who had no business being in a relationship in the first place.'"
Perrie Edwards vs. Zayn (2016)
While it's unclear whether or not Zayn really ended his engagement to Perrie with a text message, one thing is certain: Little Mix's "Shout Out to My Ex" is definitely about him. Exhibit A: "I hope she gettin' better sex / Hope she ain't fakin' it like I did, babe / Took four long years to call it quits / Forget that boy, I'm over it," a reference to Zayn's um, performance, along with the length of their relationship. Exhibit B: "Guess I should say thank you / For the 'hate yous' and the tattoos / Oh baby, I'm cool by the way / Ain't sure I loved you anyway," a reference to Zayn's famous Perrie tattoo, which has since been altered. You get the picture…
Joe Jonas vs. Gigi Hadid (2016)
Months after deleting a #squad photo of himself, Zayn, and Kanye West at Paris Fashion Week on Instagram, Joe got candid about his ex Gigi and her boyfriend Zayn in an interview with The Daily Mirror: "I think it's interesting that she moved on so quickly, I mean it was definitely quick." Ouch.
Selena Gomez vs. Justin Bieber (2016)
Over the years, Selena and Justin have thrown shade at each other more times than they've been apart and back together again. Things reached a peak in 2016 when Justin threatened to shut down his social media after fans lashed out at him over a photo of Sofia Richie. Then Selena got in there, commenting, "If you can't handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol," before posting photos of herself with fans on Instagram. In response, Justin wrote, "It's funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love." The episode ended with Selena apologizing on Snapchat ("What I said was selfish and pointless") and Justin deleting his Instagram entirely. (Don't worry, it returned a few months later.)
Mariah Carey vs. Nick Cannon (2014)
While performing in Tokyo, Mariah tweaked the lyrics to a Billie Holiday song, "Don't Explain," which was already a song about a cheater. Per TMZ, the Elusive Chanteuse changed the lyrics from "And I know you cheat / right or wrong, don't matter" to "I know you cheated, motherfucker."
Mariah Carey vs. James Packer (2017)
Long after the end of their engagement, Mariah still couldn't get rid of James, even in conversation. During a press conference in Tel Aviv, Mimi was asked about her ex billionaire fiancé's alleged illegal dealings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I don't know where the motherfucker is," Carey said, via The Hollywood Reporter. "How am I supposed to know? I don't know, for real. I really have no idea about the political stuff that goes on. I don't pay attention to it." In other words, "I don't know him."
Gregg Sulkin vs. Bella Thorne (2016)
Remember when Gregg and Bella were a thing? Shortly after their relationship ended, Bella came out as bisexual and began making headlines with Tyler Posey. In September 2016, just as photos of Bella and Tyler making out surfaced, Gregg took to Twitter to seemingly take a dig at his ex: "Who doesn't enjoy watching entertainment at the circus? Children want attention," he wrote.
Britney Spears vs. Justin Timberlake (2011)
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2011, Britney gave a short and sweet (and long overdue) review of JT's "Cry Me a River" music video, which famously starred a Britney lookalike. "I think it looks like such a desperate attempt, personally. But that was a great way to sell the record. He's smart [laughs]. Smart guy."
Amber Rose vs. Kanye West (2016)
Following Kanye's Twitter rant against Wiz Khalifa, which included references to Amber, MUVA took matters into her own hands. If #FingersInTheBootyAssBitch doesn't make you stand up and clap, you have some reading to do. Kanye tried to remedy the situation days later, also on Twitter ("Exes can be mad but just know I never let them play with my ass. I don't do that… I stay away from that area all together"), but it felt a little late.
John Mayer vs. Jennifer Aniston (2012)
In his infamous Playboy interview, John didn't have the nicest things to say about Jennifer and her tech skills: "If Jennifer Aniston knows how to use BitTorrent I'll eat my fucking shoe. One of the most significant differences between us was that I was tweeting. There was a rumor that I had been dumped because I was tweeting too much. That wasn't it, but that was a big difference. The brunt of her success came before TMZ and Twitter. I think she's still hoping it goes back to 1998. She saw my involvement in technology as courting distraction. And I always said, 'These are the new rules.'" Ugh.
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