FollowSunday night millions of teenagers watched The MTV Video Movie Awards to catch a glimpse of the best artists of the day… unfortunately the most of what they caught was the “worst of them.” Kanye was sure at his worst.
If you haven’t read the headlines by now, Kanye did one of his dumbest moves yet live on the show, leaving Taylor Swift in tears. As I sit here and write this blog only hours after the event, articles are already appearing like popcorn all over the internet, filled with new news of Kanye’s rude antics, his removal form the awards, and now his weak apology. (Sigh.)
I was watching the show Sunday night, my annual glimpse of one of the biggest pop culture phenomenon’s of the day. (As you know, ever year I encourage you to set your TIVOs and watch the show. The day after the awards, I write an article sharing my two cents on the show- ours will appear on the front page of our site late Monday in the Youth Culture Window magnifying glass.) Early in the show, shortly after Katy Perry’s disgusting crotch grab (that’s actually describing it mildly), Kanye West revealed his true self once again with an out of control outburst, walking on stage when Taylor Swift was awarded Best Female Video. Kanye took the mic from her during a pause in her acceptance speech and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!” Beyonce looked a little confused, and slightly flattered. Boos began echoing throughout the room, disapproving of Kanye. As West left stage, applause began again for Taylor. A stunned Taylor stood there with a horrified look on her face. She never got to finish her speech.
Kanye’s name was mentioned a few times later in the show as a nominee for other awards– a majority of the crowd booed whenever Kanye’s name was mentioned (actually flustering Diddy to stumble over his words).
My heart broke for Taylor Swift. Kanye’s actions were, dare I say, “Heartless.” As this MTV.com article put it,
“But his verbal attack against Swift had a more vicious tone. According to a tweet from Jay-Z’s DJ, Neil Armstrong, Swift and her mother were seen backstage crying afterward; Beyoncé brought Swift onstage for another chance at her acceptance speech later in the show. Various celebs have lashed out against West on Twitter, including Pink, who had to be escorted away from the rapper by security. “
For those of you read our Youth Culture Window article about Kanye last year, his actions Sunday night might not have surprised you. His “apology” wasn’t much of a band aid. Kanye’s blog reveals a little regret as he apologizes to Taylor. But he turns to defend himself by claiming he was just being “real.”
Yeah… a real jackass! (There I go again!)
Catch the whole Youth Culture Window article about the 2009 VMAs here.
Posted in Entertainment Media, Music, News, TV, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment
One of the things that disturbed me the most was Jack Black praying to Satan. he thinks its a joke or something but there are just some things that are not funny and should not be messed with.
I was at your seminar yesterday. Didn’t watch the awards last night. Couldn’t bring myself to be that offended and now I am glad after reading the reviews that I didn’t watch. Thank you for standing in the gap for our kids and for watching this stuff.
The praying to Satan, Russel Brand’s over the top jokes, Lady Gaga’s bizarre display… the whole show left the audience feeling “awkward.” The audience didn’t even know how to react at times… it will be interesting to see the repercussions, if any.
I’ll include some of these thoughts in the article later today.
If you missed the show (or don’t have MTV access) and want to see it for yourself, you can watch the whole thing at MTV.com.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/?id=1620604
Beyounce Invited Taylor to come up and complete her speech when she was done.
No matter you feel on Beyounce’s music or video’s she has always been and will aleways be a class act.
Kanye’s outburst may have been heartless, but most of the show in my opinion was shameful. Does Russell Brand work cheap or exactly what is MTV’s thinking behind having him host again? He said something along the lines of “The Jonas Brother forgave me. They’re Christians, so they have to.” I was happy to see most of the audience was like me and failed to find the humor in that…
On a positive not, I thought Madonna’s Jackson tribute was probably the best I’ve seen. Definitely the highlight for me.
Ray, it’s interesting that you mention Beyonce being a class act. I talk about that in my Youth Culture Window article today… take a peek.
As for Scott’s comment about the event being shameful… I’m with you. You’ll also want to check out that article, I summarize my thoughts on the subject.
Didn’t get to see the show. Thanks for watching it and sharing what’s happening. I’m excited to hear that Taylor Swift won, though I must admit my excitement is full of ignorance, as I’ve never seen any videos of hers. So, I’m wondering whether you’ve heard her newest single, “15”? It sure speaks to freshman girls from a girl who’s not too far out of that scene.
Dude, you gotta be careful about throwing stones… we all screw up. Picking up rocks doesn’t help…
Wow, the past few days have been crazy huh? Did you all happen to see Kanye on The Jay Leno Show last night? He was very ashamed of himself-to the point where he was getting teared up!
Yeah, it was interesting how Jay asked him what his mother would have said about the incident.
The Jay apology was his third apology about this mistake. Interesting. He told Jay that he knew he was wrong the moment he handed the microphone back to Swift, when he was bathed in boos.
Reading through all his apologies, it’s hard to decipher whether he is more worried about his actions… or the fact that the crowd didn’t like him.