Taylor Swift and Kanye West will fight another day, this time on MTV’s newest greenlit show, Taylor versus Kanye. The 13 episode series, scheduled to premiere in January, will see the two artists in head-to-head competition every episode.
The series will reportedly have rap battles, dance competitions, mud wrestling and video game tournaments. This move further strengthens MTV’s programming strategy of not having music or music videos anywhere on the network.
“I’m really excited to kick Kanye’s ass at least 13 times this season and hopefully in syndication for years to come,” said Swift. MTV president of programming Tony Disanto echoed Swift’s excitement.
“Obviously the people want to see more Taylor Swift and Kanye West. These two are like the Israel and Palestine of the music industry so this will obviously be a ratings bonanza ,” he said.
MTV is no stranger to the Swift/West feud. The 2009 Video Music Awards was highlighted by West’s hijacking of the stage while Swift accepted her award for Best Female Video while the 2010 Video Music Awards was based around their tired feud. Host Chelsea Handler spent a large part of her opening monologue discussing the feud, Swift performed a song about West, and West closed out the show with a performance saluting “douche bags and assholes.”
The show is being produced by Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest, an expert at crafting train wreck reality television, is an executive producer for Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.
MTV is reportedly waiting to see how Taylor versus Kanye fares in the ratings, as they may develop a spin-off starring 50 Cent and Selena Gomez.