On This Day in 2009, Taylor Swift Made MTV VMA History Before Being Part of One of the Award Show’s Most Memorable Moments

On this day (September 13) in 2009, Taylor Swift won Best Female Video for “You Belong with Me” at the MTV Video Music Awards. She was the first country artist to win a Moonman. Kanye West stormed the stage and interrupted her acceptance speech to claim that Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” was “one of the best videos of all time.” The interruption overshadowed Swift’s win and became one of the most memorable moments in VMA history.

Swift was well on her way to being an international superstar when she took the stage at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She had already taken home Album of the Year for Fearless at the ACM Awards earlier that year. She had also already won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards. Later that year, she became the youngest CMA Entertainer of the Year in history. At the same time, she was still young and relatively new to the industry.

Taylor Swift Interrupted by Kanye West

Nearly anyone who was old enough to watch television or exist on the internet in 2009 remembers the moment Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift. The moment transcended the awards show. Late-night TV hosts, news pundits, and everyone on Facebook were talking about it. Even sitting President Barack Obama weighed in, calling West a “jackass.”

[RELATED: Remember When Taylor Swift Won Her First Grammy Award in 2010?]

“I was really excited because I had just won the award. Then, I was really excited because Kanye West was on the stage. And then, I, um, I wasn’t so excited anymore,” Swift said after the incident.

“At the time I didn’t know they were booing him doing that,” Swift said, reflecting on the event years later. “I thought that they were booing me. For someone who has built their whole belief system on getting people to clap for you, the whole crowd booing is a pretty formative experience.”

“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” won Video of the Year at the 2009 VMAs.

Featured Image by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

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