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Library/Moment/Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift at the VMAs
Grade B22 sourcesHIS-01502

Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift at the VMAs

Moment · 2009 · Viral

62Editable slideCertificate

A 2009 VMA interruption became an image macro, video remix and recurring awards-show joke.

Clip · freeyourpixels on YouTube
Kanye West, Taylor Swift. Singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the "Best Female Video" award during the MTV Video Music Awards on in New YorkMTV Video Music…
Rolling Stone
Stamen and Radian6’s live Twitter monitor showed the reaction to West’s interruption at the VMAs.
Stamen / Radian6 / MTV
I'mma Let You Finish.com
Kanyegate / Tumblr
Swift leaving a taxi after her VMA performance on the same night; this photograph does not show the interruption.
Coldbread / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagion35Breadth60Velocity100LongevityNo data yet62

Numbers

Seed to peak proxy
same day
Sep 13 ’09 to Sep 13 ’09
Platforms
6
Started on TV
Origin
Seeded
Entertainment

Mechanics

  • Remixable templatePrimary
  • Controversy
  • Transgression
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop

How it spread

Trace the origin

West interrupted Swift on live TV. Twitter reactions, YouTube remixes and Tumblr image macros followed; Obama’s off-record criticism became another story. Swift answered on SNL and in Innocent, and awards-show callbacks continued for years.

Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.

Jul ’09OctFeb ’10JulNovJul ’11Mar ’12OctOct ’13Oct ’14Sep ’15TVXYouTubePressOpen webAudio
TVXYouTubePressOpen webAudio

13 more events on this chart

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Timeline (16)

  1. September 2009

    Kanye West seed · Sep 13 ’09

    West took Swift's microphone during her Best Female Video acceptance and praised Beyoncé's video.[1][2]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. Twitter users platform jump · Sep 13 ’09

    Twitter users posted about West's interruption as MTV's live social monitor tracked the reaction.[3][4]

  3. Twitter users peak proxy · Sep 13 ’09

    West mentions reached almost 5,000 tweets per 30 seconds in the live VMA monitor, an initial-night proxy.[3]

  1. owner response · Sep 13 ’09

  2. platform jump · Sep 13 ’09

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Why it worked

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Origin
Seeded
Sector
Entertainment
Region
US
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

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