Kanye West has long been at the center of controversy, known for speaking his mind and stirring strong reactions. One of his most infamous moments came at the 2009 MTV VMAs when he stormed the stage, grabbed the mic, and interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. As Swift stood there, celebrating her win, Kanye cut in to declare that Beyoncé deserved the award instead.
Advertisement
The Graduation rapper faced intense backlash for his actions, and the incident ignited a long-running feud between him and Swift—one that would continue to evolve for years to come.
Despite Taylor Swift receiving overwhelming support and many believing Kanye was in the wrong, his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose has continued to defend him—most recently on the latest episode of Club Shay Shay.
Rose recalled how the events of that night unfolded in an instant, leaving her in shock. Before she knew it, Kanye was on stage, grabbing the mic and saying what he believed to be true. She admitted she never saw it coming. While she acknowledges that West was wrong for taking Taylor’s moment, she doesn’t believe his words that night were necessarily incorrect.
“He was wrong for taking Taylor’s moment. I agree with that. Was he wrong in what he said? No, he was not wrong. I think over time being famous you see a lot of things that are not okay and they use celebrities as pawns in their weird little games. He was just fed up.”
Amber Rose firmly believes that Beyoncé should have won the Best Female Video award for Single Ladies instead of Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me. According to her, Kanye expressed remorse after stepping off the stage, apologizing to both Taylor and her mother—but as the saying goes, you can’t unring the bell.
However, Shannon Sharpe pushed back against Amber’s defense of Kanye during their conversation on Club Shay Shay. He argued that it wasn’t Kanye’s place to interrupt the moment and take a stand for Beyoncé. To him, no apology could truly undo what happened—Taylor would always carry that moment with her. The three-time Super Bowl champion added that if Beyoncé herself had spoken up, it might have been more understandable.
As for Amber, she recalled that the car ride home with Kanye that night was anything but ordinary. The rapper was in full crisis management mode, reaching out to people in an attempt to smooth things over. While he was remorseful, the night didn’t end on a sour note—the couple still stopped for dinner and managed to enjoy themselves.
The incident, however, left a lasting mark on Taylor Swift. At just 19, she felt like she didn’t belong in that room. Though she tried to move on and bury the hatchet, Kanye didn’t let the feud rest, following up the 2009 controversy with a string of even more unfortunate moments.
