Kanye West has become notorious for his candid comments–particularly at awards shows. But his outburst at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which involved him interrupting Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video acceptance speech to put over Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” as the more deserving video, was nothing if not shocking.
As West grabbed the microphone from the “You Belong with Me” singer and touted “Single Ladies” as one of the best videos of all-time, Swift–and much of the audience-stood in shock. When West handed the microphone back to Swift, she looked completely stunned.
The live MTV audience, and later singer Beyonce, showed love for the clearly-hurt Swift throughout the broadcast, but for many fans and viewers, nothing was going to eclipse the “did that just happen” incident from earlier in the night.
It simply took mention of the name “Kanye West” to draw boos from the crowd later on, and based on web reports citing Kanye’s personal blog, the rapper agrees he was in the wrong.
“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT,” wrote West, according to a report on Entertainment Weekly.