Kanye West Interrupts Global Media
by Kimling L. in Meltwater Culture Sep.16.2009. 12:05 am   [PST]

If you follow pop culture news, you’ve probably heard about Kanye West disrupting Taylor Swift’s speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

West grabbed the microphone from a clearly stunned Swift, and said: “Taylor, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”

We ran a Meltwater News search on the media hits since the run-in and it’s no surprise that Kanye’s story spiked in coverage and was heard around the world.

Below is the jump in number of articles mentioning “Kanye West” on the 13th and 14th of September, and the bottom graph is the percentage of those mentions broken down by region.

It is amazing how quickly online media picks up on the hottest headlines. How quickly do you think this will die down?

kanye_west_mentionskanye_west_global-percent

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  • Jennifer

    Although some would argue, I have to admit, Kanye is a PR genius.
    Things now related to Kanye in terms of media hype this week alone:
    -Jay Leno
    -Bluprint 3 (Jay-Z album, produced by Kanye West)
    -Jay-Z
    -Beyonce
    -Obama
    -Taylor Swift

    Poor Taylor, she’s at the bottom of the list…

  • Kenny

    I had something witty to say, but Kanye interrupted me and told me someone else was funnier.

  • Josh

    Kanye is the definition of arrogant. His little stunt was distasteful and childish and he needs to be taken down a notch or two. Dear Kanye, grow up.

  • John

    The guy is a jerk but he definitely knows how to get publicity. He’s done really well in the past with the press and getting what he wants from them

  • Paul

    While I enjoy Kanye’s music, his actions are inexcusable, constantly immature and are meager attempts for fleeting moments in the spotlight. He has relished in much success and must develop the maturity to allow others to relish in theirs. His insensitivity should be punishable and his arrogance condemned.

  • Sarah

    Next time he pulls a stunt like that, I hope he trips.

  • Alice

    You know when EVEN the President is weighing in on your statements, you are a really HUGE jerk- or (as previously mentioned)…a PR genius..?? Either way, it was in extremely poor taste.

  • http://twitter.com/kimling Kimling
  • Robbie G

    I absolutley believe KW does these things to keep himself relevant and in the news, but I also think he is a complete JERK…

    This wouldn’t be as bad a situation as it turned out to be if it wasn’t done to Taylor Swift. If it was anyone else, things would have passed a lot quicker, but Taylor Swift is 19 and so soft spoken and nice, this stunt by KW def backfired and pissed a ton of people off in the industry, as well as fans. It’s like taking ur little sister’s brand new bike and popping the tires and bending the handle bars, all because u didn’t get a bike urself…KW is a jerk…Taylor Swift is awesome!

  • Danny

    Wow, this article really shows me the capability of media monitoring. Very impressive…

  • Jennifer