AceShowbiz - Taylor Swift has insisted her relationship with former rival Katy Perry wasn't bad until the media started pitting the pop stars against each other.

The feud between the pair began in 2014, when Taylor told Rolling Stone magazine she and Katy had fallen out after the "Roar" hitmaker nabbed some of the "Shake It Off" star's dancers for a string of live dates.

However, the duo made amends when Katy reached out to Taylor on the opening night of her 2018 "Reputation" Stadium Tour, sending her a literal olive branch. Katy has since proved she's back on good terms with her former pal by appearing in the video for Taylor's new track "You Need To Calm Down".

While many have speculated that the "Dark Horse" hitmaker's appearance in the clip was a deliberate move to prove the pair are on good terms, Taylor told U.S. Vogue magazine's September issue it's actually a comment on how the media pits female pop stars against one another.

Detailing how she responded to Katy's gesture by asking her to appear in the clip, the "Love Story" star recalled, "She wrote back, 'This makes me so emotional. I'm so up for this. I want us to be that example. But let's spend some time together. Because I want it to be real.' So she came over and we talked for hours."

"We decided the metaphor for what happens in the media is they pick two people and it's like they're pouring gasoline all over the floor," she continued. "All that needs to happen is one false move, one false word, one misunderstanding, and a match is lit and dropped. That's what happened with us."

Taylor added that the constant talk of a feud between the musicians made it "impossible for you to not think that the other person has something against you."

Taylor's seventh studio album "Lover" is released on August 23.