Kanye West's Infamous VMA Moment Had One More Global Icon in Tears — Besides Taylor Swift

Both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé cried the night when Kanye West snubbed Swift on stage during the MTV VMA event. The 2009 VMA gala is not only infamous for the inception point of the West-Swift feud but also for the emotional outpour by the most Grammy award-winning artist. It wasn't just Swift who cried backstage that night after the stage drama. 

Then-Viacom president, Van Toffler revealed to Billboard how he understood that Ye's intent was not to hurt anyone. However, the rapper's interruption led Swift to skip her acceptance speech. Toffler disclosed, "Her mom and she were crying, and I profusely apologized and I said, 'I'm sorry, we didn't know. I know you have to perform in the next act and let me think about a way we can make it right for you. We're dealing with him now and I'm so sorry it ruined your moment.'" According to him, it was a painful moment for the young artist as she had to now face the crowd again for a performance the same night.

"I didn't anticipate I'd have a crying artist and mom to deal with—literally right before she has to go out on Sixth Avenue and stand on a car and sing her song," Toffler continued. But this wasn't all, Toffler also came across Beyoncé shedding tears backstage the same night after the terrible intervention by West. "I walk behind the stage -- and sure enough there is Beyoncé and her dad, and she is crying. She was like, 'I didn't know this was going to happen, I feel so bad for her,'" he said. This was the moment the then-Vicaom President came across an idea to set things right.

Toffler shared, "And that's when it started to click in my head, and maybe hers, about potentially having the whole arc play out in that one night." According to US Weekly, Toffler gleamed with hope and suggested the Run The World (Girls) hitmaker with an idea. "I think perhaps for the only time in history at the VMAs -- we knew who was going to win the awards, we had a plan for it [but did not tell the artists ahead of time] -- at some point I let her know that she was probably going to be up on the podium at the end of the show for an award," he said.

Toffler hinted that Beyoncé would be on the stage in a short while and she compensated that time to make up the situation. "Wouldn’t it be nice to have Taylor come up and have her moment then? I had to indicate to her that she needed to stay, and perhaps this is a way to have this come full circle and let [Taylor] have her moment," Toffler said. And that's how two music sensations ended up making it all right. However, Toffler confessed he never imagined having, "two crying artists" then.