Rapper Kanye West, who famously stormed the stage and snatched the microphone from Swift in 2009 during her acceptance speech, was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award on Sunday by Swift, in a VMA moment that came full circle.
"Everyone in the world knew about our infamous encounter at the VMAs, but something you may not know is Kanye West's album 'College Dropout' is the very first album I bought on iTunes," Swift said.
She added, in a parody of West's 2009 speech when he hijacked her award, "to all the other winners tonight, I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Kanye West has one of the greatest careers of all time."
After a standing ovation, West rehashed the 2009 incident along with many other musings on the authenticity of artistry, at one point criticizing awards shows and MTV for replaying the Swift incident over and over for "more ratings."
"If I had a daughter at that time when I went on stage and grabbed the mic from someone else... after that night, the stage was gone, but the effect it had on people remain," he said.
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He ended his speech by declaring, "I have decided in 2020 to run for president," quickly riling up social media.
