Taylor Lautner Thought the Taylor Swift-Kanye West VMAs Incident Was Scripted
Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s memorable interaction at the 2009 MTV VMAs is one of the most infamous awards show moments. The “You Belong With Me” singer’s then-boyfriend Taylor Lautner recently reflected on that incident and shared his initial reaction to Ye interrupting Swift on stage.
Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s notorious VMAs moment
In 2009, Taylor Swift won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. In the middle of her acceptance speech, Kanye West stormed the stage and grabbed the microphone from her to announce: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you. I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
The moment kickstarted years of friendship and fighting between Swift and West, who have both written songs about the moment — Swift’s “Innocent” and West’s “Famous” — and spoken publicly about their relationship.
One person who has largely remained silent about the incident? Taylor Lautner, who was on the stage when it happened. Lautner and Swift were dating, and the Twilight actor was chosen to present Swift with the trophy.
Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s stage rant was a ‘rehearsed skit’
During a recent episode of his podcast, The Squeeze, Lautner named that moment the one event he wished he could go back and relive. And the clip has already gone viral on TikTok.
“I presented the award to her, so I gave her the award, [and] I took five steps back and was standing five feet behind her,” Lautner remembered. When West took the stage, the actor said, he thought it was part of the show and a “rehearsed skit.”
“I can barely hear it. I can’t see them,” he continued. “I’m just assuming that this whole thing was practiced … because why else would Kanye West be jumping up on the stage, interrupting Taylor Swift? It just didn’t make sense.”
However, after seeing Swift’s face, Lautner knew it was all too real. “I was like, ‘Oh. No, that wasn’t good. Probably should’ve said something,’” he shared.
Did Taylor Swift revisit the VMAs incident in her song ‘Back to December’?
Lautner, who dated Swift for a few months in 2009, usually stays pretty silent about their time together. Swift also hasn’t publicly discussed their relationship, preferring to let her confessional music speak for her.
Many of her songs are rumored to be about Lautner, but one is widely accepted to be a tribute to their romance: “Back to December,” a single from Swift’s 2010 album, Speak Now.
The song’s title alludes to their breakup, which happened in December. Also, lines seemingly refer to that night at the VMAs: “And how you held me in your arms that September night, the first time you ever saw me cry.” The infamous VMAs moment took place on September 13.
Who are Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner dating now?
Even though the couple split, Swift and Lautner are still on good terms. In 2012, the pop star called Lautner “one of my best friends” and said they “would always be close” (via Us Weekly).
Today, Lautner is married to Taylor Dome, a California nurse. And Swift has been with her actor boyfriend Joe Alwyn for the past six years.
