Kesha Finally Releases 'Backstabber' Video, 16 Years After the Album

Kesha has released the music video for "Backstabber" 16 years after the song appeared on her second studio album, Animal (2010). The Syndrome-directed clip spent nearly two decades in limbo, and it's finally here — complete with the gold Trans Am that inspired the song in the first place.

In the video, Kesha gets the car back and gets her revenge. She climbs behind the wheel of the Pontiac Firebird that an unfaithful friend stole from her, slaps the thief across the face, and drives off into what the rollout calls a nuclear night out. Her loyal friends stay behind and land a few punches of their own.

Why did the video take 16 years?

That's the practical question, and Kesha's answer is honest but vague. She shared on X that she's been trying to get the video released "this whole time," but explained the delay only as a "longggg storyyyyyyy." For years, fans made do with an unfinished, leaked cut that surfaced online but never became an official release.

The backstory of the song itself is more concrete. "Backstabber" predates even "TikTok," the 2009 debut single that made Kesha a household name. Around 2008, the track was available exclusively on MySpace, back when the social platform functioned as an unofficial playground for Kesha and her earliest fans.

The song came from a real betrayal. "A very close friend of mine stole my car one night," Kesha told Billboard in 2010. "The car is gone, and I was like, 'What a backstabber!' And then I found out that she was also talking shit, so I was like, 'What a shit-talker!' … I was like, 'We should write a song about this girl.'"

What does this change for the song?

Momentum, mostly. "Backstabber" has surged on TikTok in recent years, introducing the track to listeners who never knew it existed before the algorithm dug it up. An official video gives that wave something concrete to attach to — and it closes a loop that day-one fans have wanted closed since the leaked cut first circulated.

The song's durability isn't hard to explain: nearly everyone has a story of a friend screwing them over, even if few can match a stolen car plus a smear campaign. Kesha's own version of events ends better than most. Sixteen years later, she has the Firebird, the video, and the last word.