Kanye West crashed the acceptance speech of young country-pop star Taylor Swift, as she received the ‘Best Female Video’ award for “You Belong With Me” at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA).
Kanye West has a long history of throwing tantrums at award shows when he doesn’t win. But the funny thing is that he was not up for this award, since you know, he is not a female. Kanye West felt that Beyonce should have won for her ubiquitous “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” music video.
“Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time,” said Kanye West as he took the microphone away from the 19 year-old Swift.
Beyonce won the more prestigious Video of The Year award for her ‘Single Ladies’ later in the evening, and she was gracious in giving Taylor Swift a chance to redo her acceptance speech.
“I remember how excited I was,” explained Beyonce of winning her first VMA at age 17 as part of Destiny’s Child. “I’d like Taylor to come out and have her moment.”
Kanye West later took to his blog to apologize, in his usual capital letters style, “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!”
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Award Show Drama
- Opportunity for tech companies to create new social media tools that allow people to interact and discuss their opinions about award shows in real time.
- Celebrity Social Media Behavior
- Opportunity for companies to develop AI-based tools that can help celebrities avoid social media mistakes and scandals.
- Public Apologies
- Opportunity for businesses to offer consulting services to individuals and companies to navigate public apologies and reputation damage control.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Media and Entertainment
- Opportunities for media companies to create new formats for award shows and events that engage viewers more with technology and social media.
- Social Media
- Opportunities for social media platforms to develop policies and algorithms that discourage or prevent cyberbullying, trolling, and other abusive behaviors.
- Public Relations
- Opportunities for PR firms to offer crisis management and reputation repair services to companies and individuals in the spotlight.
