I'mma let you finish
You might remember it as VMA 2009 interruption, Kanye interrupts Taylor Swift
The archive has not found a surviving copy.
2009·Early YouTube
A live television moment that became a reusable internet sentence structure.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- VMA 2009 interruption
- Spread in
- 2009
- Began as
- A television broadcast
- Where it started
- broadcast
- Format
- Event
- Said by
- Kanye West, to Taylor Swift
- The scene
- Swift’s acceptance of Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards, 13 September 2009
- What it said
- “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
- Used to say
- Interrupting somebody’s moment to say something else deserved it more
- Origin
- Not an upload originally
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
Why it matteredWhat changed
One interrupted acceptance speech gave the internet a sentence it could put in anybody’s mouth. It was turned into photo memes that dropped the line into other scenes.
TimelineIn order
- Made
Kanye West takes the microphone from Taylor Swift as she accepts Best Female Video. Later in the broadcast Beyoncé wins Video of the Year and calls Swift back on stage to finish. West posts an apology before the show ends.1
- Picked up
West apologises again on The Jay Leno Show.1
- Later
It is reported that West has apologised to Swift by telephone and that she has accepted.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered as“Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had the best video of all time.”
ActuallyHe said “one of the best videos of all time”.1
How it spreadFrom one place to everywhere
- A recording of President Barack Obama calling West a “jackass” over the incident, made before a television interview, was published by TMZ.1
What it createdWhat came out of it
- Photo memes putting the line into other scenes, and a name for the incident: Kanye-gate.1
- Swift reused the phrasing herself as a joke in 2013 and at the 2015 Video Music Awards.1
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
This began as a television broadcast, not as a video upload. Originally published on broadcast.
Where it came fromWhat we know
There is no original upload to identify: this did not begin as one. There is no copy of it here either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This began as a television broadcast, not as a video upload. Originally published on broadcast.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things