Why did Kanye West and Taylor Swift fall out?
Kanye West and Taylor Swift experienced one of the most public feuds ever in 2009 after not crossing paths until the particular incident. At the time, Ye had recently released his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak, while Swift was still in the early stages of her career, having only released two albums, her self-titled debut and Fearless.
The Chicago rapper was no stranger to being outspoken at that point. In 2005, he appeared on the NBC primetime benefit event, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, just days after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. Many people, including Kanye, felt that President George Bush was absent at the time after taking an extended holiday at his ranch in Texas.
Alongside actor Mike Myers, Kanye went off-script by talking about the negative portrayals of black families versus white families in the media. After Myers attempted to recover the broadcast, Ye boldly claimed, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” before the camera turned away to Chris Tucker.
Kanye’s confidence was fully displayed during his interview with Zane Lowe for BBC Radio 1, claiming people are scared to speak out like him. “I got to a point that Michael Jackson did not break down,” he said. “I have reached the glass ceiling, as a creative person, as a celebrity.”
He continued, “I’ve been at it for 10 years and I look around, and I say, ‘Wait a second, there’s no one around here who looks like me, and if they are, they’re quiet as fuck.’ That means, wait a second, now we’re seriously in a civil rights movement.”
So, why did Kanye West and Taylor Swift fall out?
Kanye invaded the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 after she won Best Female Video for ‘You Belong With Me’.
“Thank you so much!” she said on stage. “I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these some day, but I never actually thought it would have happened. I sing country music so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA award.”
Ye interrupted her speech by jumping on stage and stating that Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ should have won the award instead. “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” he said in front of the audience.
Swift, who was 19 then, was reportedly “hysterically crying” backstage after the incident. Fall Out Boy member Patrick Stump also claimed Kanye had been drinking a lot of alcohol at the ceremony, saying, “I’m assuming based on the amount of Hennessey I saw [West] drink that he was not all there.”
He made three public apologies before extending the olive branch to Swift in private in 2009, according to Swift’s representatives. She accepted his apology, and Kanye then went on a brief hiatus from music and returned in 2010 with his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album.