Kanye storms stage at MTV Awards
Beyonce took out the top award at the MTV Video Music Awards, but the ceremony was marred by a stunning outburst from rapper Kanye West who stormed on stage and grabbed the microphone from a young country singer.
Beyonce won the award for Video of the Year thanks to her catchy hit song Single Ladies, a track which the singer performed in emphatic style during the evening. The song also won Beyonce the award for Best Choreography.
But rapper Kanye West caused controversy earlier when he arrived unannounced onstage and grabbed the microphone from country singer Taylor Swift, who had been awarded the prize for Best Female Video for You Belong With Me. It was the 19-year-old's first ever MTV award.
West - who had earlier been seen drinking Hennessy on the red carpet while arriving with his girlfriend Amber Rose - went on to say Beyonce deserved Swift's award.
"I'm really happy for you and I'm going to let you finish ... but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time," proclaimed West, shrugging his shoulders as a stunned Swift watched on.
As the cameras cut to Beyonce, she also looked bewildered by the incident. West's outburst was met with a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd.
West was reportedly asked to leave the venue after the incident, and - according to several Twitter updates by celebrities at the event - Swift and her mother were seen crying backstage.
According to MTV.com, pop star Pink was escorted away from the rapper by security. She called West "a douche bag" and "the biggest piece of s**t on earth" in a Twitter update.
When Beyonce was awarded the top prize at the end of the show, she invited Swift onstage to complete the acceptance speech that West had interrupted.
West has made a habit of jumping up on stage unannounced during awards shows. He did the same thing during the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2006 after missing out on the Best Video Award.
And he infamously went off script during a live broadcast to proclaim "George Bush doesn't care about black people" next to an awkward Mike Myers for NBC's Hurricane Katrina aid show in 2005.
Other winners on the night included Lady Gaga, who took home the Best New Artist award and performed a bizarre rendition of her hit Paparazzi which concluded with the pop star being covered in blood.
Green Day won Best Rock Video for 21 Guns, and Eminem received the award for Best Hip-Hop Video for We Made You. British comedian Russell Brand hosted the show.
The show was also notable for several tributes to late pop star Michael Jackson, who was an integral part of MTV's history and provided the VMAs with some of its most memorable moments, including his famous smooch with then-wife Lisa Marie Presley in 1994.
Janet Jackson led a tribute to her late brother by performing the dance moves from the video Scream as footage played on a screen above her. It was their only video together and as it finished she looked into the sky, then bowed.
Pop star Madonna read out a touching and sombre statement about Jackson.
"Sometimes, we have to lose things before we can truly appreciate them," said Madonna, dressed head-to-toe in black as Jackson's father Joe watched on.
"Yes, Michael Jackson was a human being, but yes, he was a king. Long live the king."
The first trailer for This Is It, the Michael Jackson documentary scheduled for release in October, was played at the end of the awards ceremony.
The VMAs were held at Radio City Music Hall, marking its return to New York for the first time since 2006. Beyonce and Lady GaGa led all nominees with nine each.
List of winners at the MTV Video Music Awards 2009:
Video of the Year: Beyonce (Single Ladies)
Best Choreography: Beyonce (Single Ladies)
Best Female Video: Taylor Swift (You Belong With Me)
Best Male Video: TI (Live Your Life)
Best New Artist: Lady Gaga
Best Hip-Hop Video: Eminem (We Made You)
Best Pop Video: Britney Spears (Womanizer)
Best Rock Video: Green Day (21 Guns)
Best Breakthrough Video: Matt & Kim (Lessons Learned)
Best Video That Should Have Won A Moonman: Beastie Boys (Sabotage)
- With AP
* Watch footage of Kanye West's outburst below:
- © Fairfax NZ News
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We've all done some dumb stuff whilst under the influenence but usually we learn from our mistakes. Usually our dumb statements are not aired on television. He has made himself appear as silly and self destructive. Fame is a fickle beast.
i dont think what he did was appropriate however someone has to start speaking out for blacks it was distasteful how he did it but well needed what he did .. stop inviting and nominating blacks to these events if the votes are not going to be fair you cant go in white suburban areas and take votes and then nominate blacks for that category its humiliating and demeaning .. but i do not agree with kanyes measurement of how he did it .. but im glad it was dobne she DID NOT DESERVE THAT AWARD not over pink definately not Beyonce or lady gaga ( she was left with the poker face ) sorry Taylor but u werent deservant
P-U-B-L-I-C-I-T-Y S-T-U-N-T
P.S. what's with all the "Kanye is a gay fish" comments? o_O
"Clearly class can't be bought."
I think NZ and Australia are evidence of that fact!
What he did was just plain rude. She won that specific award, and Beyonce won a ton, so her video was definitely honoured. Beyonce was so nice in letting Taylor finish. I hope he does suffer for this. I hope the record company drops him, I hope people ignore him, and teach him that it's not okay to do that.
@ Daniel T #85 - Uh huh, so what's that, jealousy? She is talented, and is successful because of that.
It was probably a stunt....remember last year? You guys have short memories. They always put on lil things like this. Taylor Swift should be stoked, it's more publicity than she would have ever got otherwise.
Stop defending the idiot who started this!
Kanye was rude and disrespectful, I don't care what his color is but no one, especially a young artist should get their moment crushed like that. He might as well have spat on the trophy she had in her hands.
Kanye, you're rolling in dough- go buy some class cuz apparently you forgot to wear it that night.
Kanye acted like an ass! Kanye not everyone care about what you have to say. Some stuff is just better kept to yourself. I was happy to see that Beyonce was ADULT enough to stand up and give Taylor her turn. Thanks Beyonce for give the girl her time to shine! :)
i cant believe u guys are like "wow Kanye is an egg, bla bla bla."
I mean come on do you all not remember this outburst when another rapper won an award over him (which Kanye didnt deserve to win)
"GIVE A BLACK MAN A CHANCE, THIS IS SO RACIST, WHEN YALL GONNA GIVE A BLACK MAN A CHANCE"
lmao the only chance he deserves is the chance to dodge a bullet...
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Victoria #102 - Clearly you haven't the South Park Episode - "Fish Sticks". Jimmy creates this fish sticks joke which is big hit everywhere but Kanye West, doesn't understand the joke and why people are calling him a gayfish. This episode of South Park disses Kanye West huge ego and how he is such a "genius."
I think Kanye is an idiot for embarrasing someone with huge talent in from on milions. I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift's music but she still has talent. Also, Kanye West isn't talented himself considering he uses "Auto-Tune", instead of his natural voice. So I don't know why he would go and embarrass someone on stage considering she has a natural voice. Also the VMA's aren't voted by critics, they are voted by fans. This shows that Taylor Swift has a much bigger fan base than Kanye West because not of her talent but her respect towards other musicians and to her fans. I hear alot of things about Kanye turning up late for concerts.