Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n The feud between Taylor Swift<\/strong><\/a> and Kanye West<\/strong><\/a> is one fans know all too well.<\/p>\n Sixteen years ago, at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards<\/a>, the singer pulled up to New York\u2019s Radio City Music Hall in a coach fit for Cinderella. But the night was anything but a fairy tale.<\/p>\n After wining Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me,” Swift took the stage<\/a> to claim her prize.<\/p>\n “Thank you so much,” the then-19-year-old said. “I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these someday, but I never actually thought that it would happen. I sing country music so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA Award.”<\/p>\n But before she could finish her speech, West took the mic<\/a> and claimed Beyonc\u00e9<\/strong><\/a> should have won for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” instead.<\/p>\n “Yo, Taylor,” the rapper said. “I\u2019m really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Beyonc\u00e9 had one of the best videos of all time.”<\/p>\n More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n The audience booed West as he left the stage, but Swift thought they were booing her.<\/p>\n “For someone who’s built their whole belief system on getting people to clap for you,” she recalled in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana<\/a>, “the whole crowd booing is a pretty formative experience.”<\/p>\n Later that evening, Beyonc\u00e9 won Video of the Year and invited Swift back on stage to “have her moment.” Still, the \u201cFearless\u201d artist couldn\u2019t shake off what West had done.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was sort of a catalyst for a lot of psychological paths that I went down, and not all of them were beneficial,” she continued in the doc. “It was all fueled by not feeling like I belonged there.”<\/p>\n However, Swift made it clear she didn\u2019t want any bad blood.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t know him,” she shared in footage captured by Entertainment Tonight, “and I don\u2019t want to start anything.”<\/p>\n Jeff Kravitz\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n Of course, West\u2019s interruption did start something that turned into one of the most-talked-about feuds in pop culture history. But at one point, it looked like the Grammy winners were going to put the whole thing behind them.<\/p>\n Days after the VMAs, Swift told ABC News Radio<\/a> West called her and “was very sincere in his apology,” which she accepted. She even played “Innocent”\u2014a song rumored to be about forgiving him\u2014at the award show the following year.<\/p>\n As for West, he told Jay Leno<\/strong><\/a> his behavior was \u201cwrong\u201d and \u201crude, period.\u201d (Though, he told The New York Times<\/span><\/a> in 2013 he didn\u2019t regret the onstage interruption and that he apologized out of peer pressure).<\/p>\n By 2015, Swift, West and his then-wife Kim Kardashian<\/span><\/strong><\/a> were spotted chatting it up at the Grammys<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I feel like I wasn\u2019t ready to be friends with him until I felt like he had some sort of respect for me, and he wasn\u2019t ready to be friends with me until he had some sort of respect for me\u2014so it was the same issue, and we both reached the same place at the same time,” the 35-year-old told Vanity Fair<\/a> that year. “I became friends with Jay-Z<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, and I think it was important for Jay-Z for Kanye and I to get along.\u201d<\/p>\n And liking West “as a person,” she continued, was a “really good, nice first step.”<\/p>\n So when Swift was asked to present him with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs<\/a> in what was expected to be a full-circle moment, she agreed. Playing off their \u201cinfamous encounter\u201d from that night six years prior, Swift said, “I guess I have to say to the other winners tonight, I\u2019m really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but Kanye West has had one of the greatest careers of all time.”<\/p>\n Kevin Mazur\/WireImage<\/p>\n But when West released his song \u201cFamous\u201d in 2016, fans watched it begin again<\/a>.<\/p>\n To sum it up, uh, swiftly, the “All Too Well” singer said West never told her about the lyric, \u201cI made that b—h famous, but he and Kardashian claimed he\u2019d given Swift a heads-up about the song<\/a>.<\/p>\n That summer, Kardashian posted videos to Snapchat<\/a> that appeared to show Swift and West<\/a> discussing The Life of Pablo track, leading #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty and snake emojis to spread online. However, Swift maintained West never told her<\/a> he was going to call her “that b—h” in the song.<\/p>\n “Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination,” she wrote in a social media post. “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back at the scandal in a 2023 interview for TIME<\/a>, Swift said it felt like \u201ca career death.\u201d<\/p>\n “You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat took me down psychologically to a place I\u2019ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn\u2019t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn\u2019t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”<\/p>\n For Swift, the issue was bigger than the lyric and encompassed her history with West<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ever since the 2009 VMAs, she told Rolling Stone<\/a> in 2019, she wanted West\u2019s respect. And when they reconnected, she continued, she felt like she was \u201chealing some childhood rejection or something from when I was 19.\u201d <\/p>\n But old wounds opened at the 2015 VMAs after Swift presented West with the award and he said, \u201cYou know how many times they announced Taylor was gonna give me the award because it got them more ratings?\u201d<\/p>\n “I realized he is so two-faced,” she added. “That he wants to be nice to me behind the scenes, but then he wants to look cool, get up in front of everyone and talk s–t. And I was so upset. He wanted me to come talk to him after the event in his dressing room. I wouldn\u2019t go. So then he sent this big, big thing of flowers<\/a> the next day to apologize. And I was like, \u2018You know what? I really don\u2019t want us to be on bad terms again. So whatever, I\u2019m just going to move past this.'”<\/p>\n And she thought they had\u2014until she heard \u201cFamous.\u201d<\/p>\n “So when he gets on the phone with me, and I was so touched that he would be respectful and, like, tell me about this one line in the song,\u201d she told the magazine. “And I was like, \u2018OK, good. We\u2019re back on good terms.\u2019 And then when I heard the song, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m done with this. If you want to be on bad terms, let\u2019s be on bad terms, but just be real about it.'”<\/p>\n For Kardashian\u2019s part, she\u2019s expressed how she felt like she had to defend West at the time (this was before their divorce<\/a> and his antisemitic comments<\/a>). And while the reality star told Andy Cohen<\/strong><\/a> in 2019<\/a> that she was \u201cover\u201d the feud with Swift, it resurfaced again in 2020 when what appeared to be extended footage from that<\/span> phone call leaked online<\/a>.<\/p>\n “To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission\u2026'” Kardashian tweeted<\/span>. “They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b—h’ was used without her permission.”<\/p>\n So yes, you could say there have been different eras of the feud, which have popped up in Swift\u2019s music<\/a>. Take her 2017 reputation album<\/a> or 2024 track “thanK you aIMee<\/a>“\u2014a.k.a. “thank You aimEe<\/a>.” And while fans have their theories about the song (pointing to how the capitalized letters spell out \u201cKim\u201d as well as West\u2019s new name \u201cYe\u201d<\/a>), Swift hasn\u2019t exactly been cryptic about her feelings toward the track.<\/p>\n “It really makes me think about how every time someone talks s–t, it just makes me work even harder and it makes me even tougher,\u201d she said during a 2024 Eras Tour stop in London, per Parade<\/a>. \u201cSo, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people.\u201d<\/p>\n As fans wait to see what will go down at the 2025 VMAs\u2014where Swift is nominated<\/a> for Artist of the Year\u2014keep reading to look back at more memorable VMA moments from over the years.<\/p>\n The rapper crashed the stage<\/a> when Taylor Swift<\/strong> won Best Female Video because he thought Beyonc\u00e9<\/strong> “had one of the best videos of all time.” When Bey later won for Video of the Year, she asked T.Swift to join her on stage to have her moment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Shortly after their wedding, the couple walked on stage holding hands as the audience cheered. After Jackson declared, “I’m very happy to be here and just think, nobody thought this would last,” the King of Pop and Elvis Presley<\/strong>‘s daughter shared a kiss and walked off. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The pop star announced she and Jay-Z<\/strong> were expecting their first child together<\/a> when she cradled her baby bump on the red carpet and literally dropped her mic and rubbed her baby bump at the end of her performance of “Love On Top.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The “Material Girl” famously sang “Like a Virgin” while rolling around the stage in a white wedding dress. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gaga made headlines when she sported the now-unforgettable meat dress by Franc Fernandez as the most awarded star of the night. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n To open the show, Britney, Madonna and Christina Aguilera<\/strong> joined together for a rendition of “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood,” sealed with a headline-making kiss between the women. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n While presenting Best Hip-Hop Video, the legendary singer unexpectedly tapped Lil’ Kim<\/strong>‘s exposed left breast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Who could forget when Rage Against the Machine<\/strong> bassist Tim Commerford<\/strong> expressed his displeasure at the band losing an award to Limp Bizkit<\/strong> by storming the stage and scaling a display tower? Although his moment was short-lived on television\u2014since the network cut to a commercial\u2014in reality, Tim’s night was not since he was arrested and sentenced to a night in jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Shock Jock lived up to his raunchy reputation when he was lowered onto the stage as a superhero named Fartman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The two were involved in one of the most famous rock feuds. At the 1992 VMAs, tensions ran high backstage, where Cobain’s wife Courtney Love<\/strong>, who also brought along then-newborn daughter Frances Bean<\/strong>, taunted Rose, prompting the Guns N’ Roses<\/strong> frontman to threaten to beat up Cobain if he didn’t shut his “bitch” up. Kurt then told Love, sarcastically, “Shut up, bitch!”<\/p>\n After he performed with his band Nirvana<\/strong>, the group’s drummer Dave Grohl<\/strong> kept saying “Hi, Axl!”<\/a> into his mic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The songstress won the award for Best New Artist in a Video, but used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to speak out against Hollywood, telling viewers, “This world is bulls–t.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The pop princess unforgettably took the stage for her performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a snake draped over her shoulders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amid an ongoing feud between Eminem<\/strong> and Moby<\/strong>, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog<\/strong> poked fun at their beef while roasting the latter artist to his face in the VMAs audience. Triumph then attempted to do the same to Eminem, who was not in the mood.<\/p>\n Eminem later took to the stage to accept the award for Best Male Video and said mid-speech, “That little Moby girl threw me out of my zone for a minute.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The pop princess made her highly anticipated return to the VMA stage, though her performance of “Gimme More” was panned. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Biebs had his own snake moment when he brought a baby boa constrictor named Johnson to the show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While accepting the award for Best Hip-Hop Video for “Anaconda,” Nicki confronted Miley, who was hosting, over negative comments she had made about the rapper in a New York Times interview. She called the pop star a “bitch” and asked her, “What’s good?”<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the end of his lengthy Video Vanguard acceptance speech, the rapper unforgettably announced his plan<\/a> to run for president in 2020. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The rapper sparked headlines when he declared his love<\/a> for the songstress while presenting her with the 2016 Video Vanguard Award, telling the audience, “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22-years-old.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the heels of Camila Cabello<\/strong>‘s exit<\/a>, the girl group shocked the world when they opened their performance<\/a> with the image of a fifth member falling off the stage. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Kanye West, 2009<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley, 1994<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Beyonc\u00e9, 2011<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Madonna, 1984<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Lady Gaga, 2010<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Britney Spears & Madonna, 2003<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Diana Ross and Lil’ Kim, 1999<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Rage Against the Machine, 2000<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Lil Mama, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, 2009<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Howard Stern, 1992<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Kurt Cobain vs. Axl Rose, 1992<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Fiona Apple, 1997<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Britney Spears, 2001<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Eminem vs. Moby, 2002<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Britney Spears, 2007<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Justin Bieber, 2011<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n
Nicki Minaj vs. Miley Cyrus, 2015<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Kanye West, 2015<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Drake & Rihanna, 2016<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Fifth Harmony, 2017<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n