Taylor Swift Takes a Dig at Kanye West After Being ‘Interrupted’ By Fans During Eras Tour

Taylor Swift, who was once interrupted during a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards by Kanye West, seemed to be looking back on her own experiences as the MTV VMAs approach. Swift didn’t specifically reference Ye, but she seemed to be alluding to the viral moment when she performed in Mexico City on Sunday for her Eras tour. The crowd started shouting her name as the 12-time Grammy winner took the stage to sing Champagne Problems from her 2021 album Evermore .

As seen in the footage, she informed the audience, “It’s the best way to be interrupted, by the way, just people chanting your name. It’s really the only way to be interrupted―and I would know.” For those who may have forgotten, when Swift won the award for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV VMAs, Ye rushed the stage and said that Beyoncé’s Single Ladies deserved the award more. Many people believe that this episode was the beginning of a decade-long animosity between Ye and Swift.

What’s more, Swift has seemingly joked about the 14-year-old incident on tour before. At her Eras concert in Seattle (on July 22), Taylor Swift dusted up one of her finest vengeance songs, pausing in the middle to give out some insane laughs , reported Page Six, while singing This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things , which has been speculated to be about her conflict with Kanye West for quite some time. She stopped playing entirely at the line “Here’s to you, ’cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do,” dropped her guitar, and yelled out a hearty “Ha!”

Swift then leaned on the microphone stand for support and laughed for 20 seconds straight, to the delight of the Lumen Field audience. She then resumed, “I can’t even say it with a straight face, this is why we can’t have nice things!” For the record, the laughter was intended to be a part of the show and can be heard on the 2017 single from Swift’s Reputation album. The Grammy winner did, however, stop for a longer period of time during her acoustic set than she does on the album.

Billboard also reported that Taylor Swift has the most (eight) nominations for 2023’s VMAs, followed by SZA (with six). Seven of her nominations are for her Anti-Hero music video, while one is for Artist of the Year. At the moment, Swift has 14 Video Music Awards to her record, putting her in third place after Madonna (20) and Beyoncé (28). If she takes home at least seven of them, she’ll become one of the most recognized performers in VMA history, surpassing Madonna in the process. The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, set to air on September 12, will feature a record-breaking 35 first-time nominees, including Petras, Metro Boomin’, and Rema, who all have three nominations each.