Cognac-swigging Kanye West storms MTV stage and grabs microphone during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech
By Charlotte Spratt
Last updated at 3:54 PM on 14th September 2009
Kanye West gave a performance that will never be forgotten at the MTV Video Music Awards, but unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with his music.
The rapper stormed on stage to unleash an astonishing rant during an acceptance speech by country starlet Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last night.
The 19-year-old singer, who was collecting Best Female Video for You Belong To Me, was left humiliated as West snatched the microphone from her hands.
He turned to the audience and shouted that the gong should have gone to his big friend Beyonce, for Single Ladies.
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Rudely interrupted: Kanye West grabs the microphone from Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last night
The rapper tells the stunned country starlet that Beyonce should be receiving the award instead of her
The hip hop star, who had been swigging Hennessy cognac on the red carpet earlier in the night, was booed roundly by the celebrity-packed audience of thousands.
And it was only the first category of the night.
Swift had breathlessly began her speech with the words, 'I always wondered what it would be like to maybe win one of these someday, but never actually thought it would happen'.
But before she could continue any further, West leaped from his seat in the audience, ran onto the stage and rushed to grab the microphone as a bemused Swfit struggled to take in what was happening.
Kanye West tells the audience Beyonce's single should have won
Beyonce looks horrified as the rapper grabs the microphone from Taylor Swift and claims she should have won
West told the stunned star: 'Yo Taylor. I'm really happy for you, I'm going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.'
Cameras cut to Beyonce in the crowd who looked shocked and mortified.
As West shrugged his shoulders and handed back the microphone, a shell-shocked Swift stood in the centre of the stage seemingly unable to continue.
However, she was given another chance to say her piece when Beyonce did win an award for Single Ladies, in the Best Video category.
The rapper was booed by the audience. He had earlier been spotted swigging alcohol on the red carpet
First she told the audience about her first VMA win as a 17-year-old with Destiny's Child and how much it meant to her and then she sportingly brought the teen singer back on stage to huge applause.
The pair, both dressed in bright red, embraced before Beyonce passed the microphone to Swift.
Wes was ejected from the awards show at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
He apologised for his outburst on his blog later.
He wrote: 'I'm sooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mom.'
The singer is called back up on stage during Beyonce's acceptance speech for Best Video
The Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) singer hugs Taylor Swift after asking her to come up and finish her speech for Best Female Video
He added: 'I'm in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment. Beyonce's video was the best of this decade . . . I'm sorry to my fans if I let you guys down . . . I'm sorry to my friends at MTV. . . I will apologise to Taylor.'
It is not the first time he has made his feelings known at award ceremonies.
At the 2007 MTV VMAs, he was caught on camera ranting back stage because he had not won for the second year in a row and in 2004, he stormed out of the American Music Awards for losing the best new artist category.
The singers wore both wore bright red for their acceptance speeches
And at the MTV Europe awards in 2006, Kanye jumped on stage after losing out on the Best Video award for Touch The Sky to Simian.
Grabbing a microphone during their speech, he claimed his video should have won because it 'cost a million dollars, and Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.'
He later admitted to having a 'sippy sippy' before the performance.
For her part, Swift called the evening 'interesting.'
'I was standing on stage and I was really excited because I'd just won the award and then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage,' Swift recalled after the show. 'And then I wasn't excited anymore after that.'
