SOMEONE should have told Kanye West that if you?re going to be an asshole in the age of the Internet, everybody?s going to know about it within minutes.
Hello, YouTube. Hello, Facebook. Hello, Twitter.
Even people who weren?t watching the MTV Video Music Awards were soon expressing outrage after watching how Kanye ruined Taylor Swift?s moment of triumph at the show online.
(If you, for some strange reason, have been hiding under a rock in the past week, here?s the lowdown: Taylor was announced the winner of the Best Female Video award. She went onstage and had just started her acceptance speech when Kanye grabbed the mic from her to hail Beyonce?s ?Single Ladies? video as one of the best of all time. The camera showed a very stunned Beyonce, who was among the audience. All that Taylor could do was stand helplessly onstage, obviously in shock. Oh yes, it was a very awkward moment.)
Hating Kanye
And yes, the world now hates Kanye West. Even US President Barack Obama called him a jackass, although his people did ask for the ABC reporter to strike that comment off the record (too late though, it was tweeted prematurely).
Reactions poured in from celebrities.
?F*** u Kanye. It?s like you stepped on a kitten,? Katy Perry wrote on Twitter while still at the awards show.
Pink wrote on her Twitter page, ?Kanye West is the biggest piece of sh*t on earth. Quote me.? And then, ?My heart goes out to Taylor Swift. She is a sweet and talented girl and deserved her moment. She should know we all love her.? And, after Kanye was asked to leave, ??douche bag got kicked out. HA.?
?Nick and Norah?s Infinite Playlist? star Kat Dennings tweeted: ?I?m throwing away my Kanye glasses. They were eight bucks, no skin off my apple.?
Kelly Clarkson wrote on her blog: ?Dear Kanye, what happened to you as a child?? Did you not get hugged enough?? Something must have happened to make you this way and I think we?re all just curious as to what would make a grown man go on national television and make a talented artist, let alone a teenager, feel like sh*t. I?ve seen you do some pretty sh*tty things, but you just keep amazing me with your tactless, assh*le ways. The best part of this evening is that you weren?t even up for THIS award and yet you still have a problem with the outcome. I was actually nominated in the same category that Taylor won and I was excited for her ... so why can?t you be???
All apologies
Celebrities weren?t the only ones who were peeved. Everyone else used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to air their rage.
And when we say everyone, we don?t just mean fans of Taylor. Clearly, no one is a fan of disrespect.
Kanye used the Internet, too, to air his apology. He wrote on his blog, ?I?m sooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mom. I spoke to her mother right after and she said the same thing my mother would?ve said. She is very talented! I like the lyrics about being a cheerleader and she?s in the bleachers! I?m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment! Beyonce?s video was the best of this decade!!! I?m sorry to my fans if I let you guys down!!! I?m sorry to my friends at MTV. I will apologize to Taylor 2mrw! Welcome to the real world!!!! Everybody wanna booooo me but I?m a fan of real pop culture!!!!? And he went on and on.
He also wrote, ?I feel like Ben Stiller in ?Meet the Parents? when he messed up everything and Robert De Niro asked him to leave. ?...That was Taylor?s moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry.?
As if a Ben Stiller reference would charm a seething world.
Apologies were again made through a press release and Jay Leno?s show, but it was ironic that the last apology made was the one he should have made first ? a personal call to Taylor who graciously accepted his apology.
?Imma let you finish?
But for Kanye West, it?s kind of too late. Videos and photos mocking him continue to make rounds online ? pictures of him telling Dumbledore, ?Yo Dumbledore I?m really happy for you. I?m gonna let you finish but Gandalf was one of the greatest wizards of all time;? and Patrick Swayze, ?Yo Patrick Swayze I know you just died and all and Imma let you finish but Michael Jackson?s death was the best one this year.? There?s even a video of a furious Hitler saying, ?How would he like it if I came on the stage and took away his douche of the year award?? There?s even a Kanye West Apology Generator ?so he can fit all his heart-felt remorse needs into his busy schedule without missing a beat.?
If everyone hates Kanye, everyone loves Beyonce, who managed to turn the very awkward moment into one of sweetness.
She did kind of save the day. When it was her turn to accept the award for Video of the Year, she called Taylor back onstage, saying, ?I remember being 17 years old and up for my first MTV Award with Destiny?s Child and it was one of the most exciting moments in my life, so I?d like for Taylor to come out and have her moment.?
Someone should have told Beyonce that if you?re going to be an angel in the age of the Internet, everybody?s going to know about it within minutes.
But heck, she probably knows that.
