When Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Cried Backstage After the Infamous Kanye West Speech During 2009 VMAs
The 2009 VMA will be remembered forever in infamy, it's been decades since the infamous moment during which Kanye West stormed the VMAs stage and snatched the microphone from Taylor Swift as she attempted to accept her 'Best Video by a Female Artist' award for You Belong to Me music video and told her, “I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!” As per Vox, Swift was pitted against Beyoncé's music video for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), but she was not nominated for the 'Video of the Year' award, unlike Queen Bee. The Single Ladies hitmaker won the 'Video of the Year' award later that night, but not before feeling guilty and crying backstage along with Swift.
Grazia Daily reported in 2019 that Van Toffler, former Viacom president, revealed that he witnessed "two crying artists" backstage after the humiliating incident. He found the Lavender Haze hitmaker and her mother in tears backstage, while talking about the incident to Billboard, he shared - "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." He continued, "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 then went on to discover Beyoncé crying backstage too, "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.' 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."
Toffler, in a bid to save the situation, hinted to Beyoncé that she might win later that night and then, as a 'saving grace' allowed Swift to have her moment of spotlight on stage - "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. I would normally not say anything, but I had two crying artists."
Beyoncé indeed won the most prestigious award of the night but she allowed Swift to complete her acceptance speech by saying - "I remember being 17 years old, up for my first MTV Award with Destiny’s Child, and it was one of the most exciting moments in my life. So, I’d like for Taylor to come out and have her moment.” According to Billboard’s oral history of the incident, Kanye returned to his seat while the commercial break came up, and Pink, who was among the audience, came and blasted him soon after. A while later MTV officials ushered Ye out of the building, leaving him completely shocked.
References:
https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/beyonce-cried-backstage-taylor-swift-kanye-west-2009-vmas/
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/26/20828559/taylor-swift-kanye-west-2009-mtv-vmas-explained
https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/2009-mtv-vmas-oral-history-8523549/
