Kanye Interrupts Taylor at the VMAs

Kanye West · 2009

“He'd been there ten seconds. He was right about the video. He was wrong about the moment.”

September 2009, MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift wins Best Female Video for You Belong With Me. Kanye storms the stage to argue Beyoncé's Single Ladies should have won. He wasn't wrong on the merits — Single Ladies is one of the great pop videos — and he was completely wrong on the etiquette. The fifteen-year aftershock reshaped how three different artists think about persona.