During a show on her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift gave a cheeky nod to the mortifying moment in pop culture history when rapper Ye interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
Swift was 19 when she won the award for Best Female Video Award for her song "You Belong With Me" on the night of September 13, 2009.
But the victorious moment didn't entirely belong to Swift because Ye stole it from her when he stormed up on stage and grabbed the mic out of her hand during her acceptance speech.
He declared that Beyoncé should've been the winner for her "Single Ladies" music video.
Ye told Swift at the time:
“Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish."
"But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
He then handed the mic back to her and walked off the stage.
The awkward interaction was not staged as initially speculated.
Swift clearly looked confused and dispirited as the crowd booed Ye for his rude behavior. The rapper was reportedly escorted from the Radio City Music Hall following his wild breach of etiquette.
It was the defining moment that sparked their feud and entered the pop culture zeitgeist of the 2000s.
Here's the painful-to-watch moment.
HD Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift VMA 2009youtu.be
Swift would later reveal in a 2015 GQ interview how traumatic the experience was for her and how she misinterpreted the audience's response in that moment.
"When the crowd started booing, I thought they were booing because they also believed I didn't deserve the award," said Swift.
"That's where the hurt came from.”
But she pulled it together because she had to perform her winning song, moments later.
“I went backstage and cried, and then I had to stop crying and perform five minutes later."
“I just told myself I had to perform, and I tried to convince myself that maybe this wasn't that big of a deal.”
And she managed to slay with her live performance after the debacle because she's a consummate pro.
Cut to the present.
Swift is currently breaking records selling out shows with her massively popular Eras Tour, which wrapped up the first leg in the U.S. at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles earlier this month.
After a brief break, she kicked off the International leg of her tour in Mexico City at MX’s Foro Sol on August 24.
At one of the shows there, she was about to perform "Champagne Problems" from her Evermore album at the piano.
But ecstatic fans couldn't resist chanting her name as she was giving a speech to introduce the number.
The interruption was a familiar situation, but more favorable than 14 years ago.
When the chanting resumed for nearly a minute, the humbled superstar, giggled and said:
“People chanting your name is really the only way to be interrupted."
"And I would know!"
Here's a clip.
Swifties immediately understood the reference.
But they were not sorry for the audience interruption.
You can never predict what will happen at live shows.
But one crowd interaction ritual happening at a concert is a surefire guarantee.
Beyoncé's audience at her Renaissance tour goes on mute—but only for a momentary pause.
During her shows, Queen Bey commands her loyal subjects to join her in the viral "mute challenge," which happens when Bey sings "Energy" and sings the line, "Look around, everyone on mute."
It's a challenge that Adele tried on her audience during her Las Vegas residency and failed epically resulting in a hilarious scolding from the British singer.
Taylor Swift will be heading for Brazil from November 17 - 19 and will resume the rest of the International tour dates next year in February in Japan.
She'll hit other countries including Australia, Singapore, France, Sweden, Portugal, the U.K., Netherlands, Poland, and Austria before she returns to the U.S. for additional shows, including in Canada.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
