EXCLUSIVE: How Taylor Swift reacted to Beyoncé topping Billboard’s greatest pop star chart after fans were left outraged

Taylor Swift ‘couldn’t be happier’ for Beyoncé after the music icon was crowned the greatest pop star of the 21st century by Billboard.

The publication caused a stir last week when it revealed Swift, 34, had been placed at number two, a decision that was branded a ‘complete joke’ by her devout ‘Swifties.’

But Swift bears no ill will towards the mother-of-three, 43, whom she has long seen as a ‘source of inspiration.’

Taylor couldn’t be happier about this’, an insider told DailyMail.com. ‘Beyoncé has had her back since day one when Kanye tried to take her award away. At the time Taylor was getting her start and Beyoncé was already a massive superstar.’

The pair have have enjoyed a long friendship since they crossed paths at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where Kanye West interrupted Swift while she was accepting an award.

In the years since, they have spent time together privately, with Swift recently describing Beyoncé as a ‘guiding light’ throughout her meteoric rise to pop superstardom.

Since the VMAs, Taylor has looked up to Beyoncé as a source of inspiration,’ the insider continued. ‘She knows that she has been in this game longer and has had a massive influence.’

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Fans hoping for a collaboration between the two biggest women in pop could be in luck, with neither party ruling out the possibility.

‘She is not against collaborating with her one day,’ the source added. ‘The two are close and in contact all the time.’

Responding to the online backlash Billboard has faced from Swift’s extremely passionate fan base, the source added: ‘While she is flattered that her fans are upset because they believe she should be number one, Taylor is humbled by the fact that she has built an empire.’

Billboard predicted that controversy would ‘tear through the internet over her being just one small space below No.1,’ something they described as ‘another testament to her power.’