In June, Katy Perry made a surprise cameo in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" video — a move that announced to the world that they'd ended their long-running feud once and for all.
Soon after, both women weighed in on their decision to heal and move on. But now, Katy is revealing brand new details about the timeline of their truce as well as some of the specific conversations and secret meetings — involving cookies and a kitten — that led them to make peace over the last several months.
Katy made the first move in May 2018 when she sent a literal olive branch to Taylor as the former country music star was launching a new tour. "I just thought, you know, she was about to embark on something new and big and needed the support. And truly, as I was finishing [my tour], I realized how much we have in common," Katy explained on "The Kyle & Jackie O Show" on July 16, as reported by JustJared and E! News.
"And maybe there's only five other people in the world that can have the same type of conversations and understand where we're coming from, and that we should celebrate our commonality and our friendship and to be able to be there for each other."
A lot of time passed before they interacted again, but the seeds of healing had taken root. Katy started "seeing [Taylor] around" during award season earlier this year, she said, and approached her former rival at a party.
"I just went up to her and I was like, 'Hey, you know, it's been a long time, and I think we've grown up a little bit. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and that I'm really here for you, and that I love you and, you know, I hope that we can be friends in the future,'" Katy said on the radio show.
That led to them "talking a little bit" and soon they were "trusting each other," Katy revealed. After getting Katy's number, Taylor reached out and they started texting before finally agreeing to meet in person — with one caveat.
"I said, 'The only way I'm coming to your house is if I can hold your new cat,'" Katy shared, speaking about Benjamin Button, the kitten Taylor adopted after he appeared in her "ME!" music video this spring. "She invited me over to her house, and she made some cookies," Katy explained, "and she actually makes those cookies, and they're actually so delicious. And I brought them home."
Taylor previously revealed in a BBC radio interview that when she saw the cheeseburger outfit Katy wore to Met Gala afterparties in May, "I was like, 'That is amazing.' I was thinking we're going to have this moment [of reconciliation] in the video… and if it's too us wearing normal clothes and hugging, it won't really fit into the video… So I was like [to Katy], 'Can we do a a burger and fries as a metaphor for two people who belong together and people who are a perfect pair?' And she thought it was really funny, and so we did it."
Katy told "The Kyle & Jackie O" show that she and Taylor hope to be an example to other women. Now, the "American Idol" host explained, "I can trust her and she can trust me. And we'll see each other in the halls of the music industry and not avoid each other and we'll embrace. And I think it's amazing that we have this opportunity to change, and I just hope that other people can learn from it too."