Was Taylor Swift / Kanye Incident Staged?
I really hate harping on this whole Taylor Swift, Kanye West embrolio. But I feel the need to state in full why some have the opinion that the moment might have been staged. Some have asserted this as an opinion, but that opinion is based on facts and a documented history from MTV and Taylor Swift specifically. For the record, I don’t feel comfortable saying with vehemence that the moment was staged, but I certainly don’t feel comfortable arguing that it wasn’t either. My goal here is to put the facts out, and let you decide.
Just last year at the MTV Awards, actor Sacha Baron Cohen acting as the character “Bruno” landed crotch first into rapper Eminem during the show, which caused Eminem and his posse to storm out of the building:
Suspicion swirled for days that the incident was staged. People cited how the cameras were trained on Eminem before it was evident that was where “Bruno” would land. And most importantly MTV DID NOT COME CLEAN THAT THE INCIDENT WAS STAGED. Then later lead writer for the awards show Scott Aukerman revealed that it was a hoax.
“Yes, the Bruno/Eminem incident was staged. That’s all anyone wants to talk about, so let’s get it out of the way. They rehearsed it at dress and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show then.”
MTV and the award show attendees have a long history of orchestrating events to keep the show in the news cycle well after that last plastic trophy has been handed out. Another example of this is the Madonna/ Brittany Spears over-orchestrated, over-mouthy kiss in 2003 premeditated by Madonna as a publicity stunt:
But let’s focus in on Taylor Swift specifically. Just last week she released a video showing her watching the announcements of the CMA nominations. This video drew fire from some, saying that the whole thing was clearly staged and over-orchastrated. The video is supposed to portray Taylor in an everyday scenario at her home, like she just woke up and flipped on the TV, and was surprised to receive her nominations.
After selling 10 million albums, her nominations were virtually guaranteed, making some wonder if the over-reaction and bated breath was an act, including the usually very Swift-friendly CMT blog, which said:
“Of course, after selling 10 million albums and having one of the year’s hottest concert tours, is she really all that surprised to receive the CMA nominations? When I stared watching the video, my cynicism automatically kicked in.”
One of the biggest things that has made me skeptical has been the reaction that the public has had to the incident. You could not put together a 10 million dollar ad campaign that could give Taylor Swift as much positive publicity as this incident did, and it also gave Beyonce positive press. And even though Kayne West received negative press for the incident, they have a saying in Hollywood: no publicity is bad publicity.
Maybe MTV knew about the incident, but Taylor didn’t, or maybe Taylor’s handlers did. It is also interesting to point out that Kanye also crashed the stage at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2006.
Staged or not, I think with the history of MTV and Taylor Swift, people have the right to wonder. In today’s pop culture, top acts like Taylor Swift are not people, but brand names and franchises. Everything that is seen in the public eye has been thought over by publicists and studio executives. Every move is carefully planned.
And for the people that are furious over this incident, saying that Taylor is “just a girl” and that this was an outrage, let me point out that from a publicity and financial standpoint, nothing better could have ever happened to Taylor Swift. Having this happen to her was like hitting the pop culture jackpot. This was the lead story on virtually every news outlet Monday morning, and even the Pres Obama has chimed in. That is why my sympathy for Taylor being handed a golden goose is limited.
September 16, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
STAGED Yes sir you are right. My reason is what happened after. Jay Leno show did you see that? Jay would NEVER asked the things he asked him. Do you think Kanyes people would let Jay ask about what his mom would think NOPE i dont think so. Maybe im wrong about that. But the song they did just after Jay finished asking about the tantrum Kanye had some of the lyrics go as follows
Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doin’ my own thing
So i say STAGED! ALL THE WAY! The proof is right in front of us all even the song fits the story….. Check it out its called Run this town or something….
September 16, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
I don’t know if the incident was staged, and personally I don’t care. I didn’t even know the shit happened until I heard people talking about it. It is all stupid to me. It doesn’t affect my life, or the music i listen to so i don’t worry about it. I know that Taylor Swift will cash in on the incident, and I am sure Kanye will lose some profit, but both of them are still filthy rich and don’t care about their fans. So fuck’em both.
September 16, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
It was pretty convenient that he was booked on Leno’s first big show back the very next night, so he could make a very public apology. Maybe Taylor didn’t know Kanye was going to do it, but Kanye did.
September 16, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
I think you’re very right Triggerman. There’s no doubt in my mind that anyone who watched the MTV Awards the other night has an opinion on this subject. I would have to say the majority of them feel sorry for Swift. I would also have to say that those in favor for Swift, and never heard of her, went out and bought her CD. I’m sure Swift’s manager had dollar signs in his eyes when that happened.
Down with the Machine!!! Fuck the Corporate World!!!
Oh and there was nothing that made me more furious when Swift announced to the audience, the cameras, the whole world, that she was “Country”.
September 16, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Okay, normally I don’t comment on your blogs, but the Hank Williams contest lured me out of the backwoods. And evidently I’m not the only one cause you’re getting quite a bit of comments, reletively speaking. Job well done.
So, on to the question. Was it staged? My answer is, I don’t care. That’s it, plain and simple. What I care about are matters that deal with the musicians I care about. Like Kris Kristofferson. You know he’s got a new album coming out on Sep. 29? And according to a bulletin from Rachel Brooke, Rachel and Junk just finished up an album. Five tracks from it are up on Junk’s myspace page. So far they’re sounding pretty nice. She calls it something like Tom Waits meets the Beach Boys meet country.
Now I’ll keep reading no matter what you write, but I am much more intrested in this kind of information, not some trival VH1 crap.
Just my two cents.
September 16, 2009 @ 5:38 pm
Hey Michael,
Don’t worry, the Rachel and Junk project will be covered. As will any other relevant music projects. They don’t get knocked off the front page here to cover celeb gossip stories. My first priority is promoting the music. But when the public is getting the wool pulled over their eyes, and nobody else is talking about it, I’m gonna step up to the plate.
I understand why you wouldn’t want to read about this garbage.
September 16, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
Speaking of more news regarding Ms. Taylor Swift, this made me pretty happy to see… sorry if it’s slightly old news. Keep up the good work Triggerman!
http://www.countrymusicnewsblog.com/drive-by-truckers-outsell-taylor-swift/
September 16, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
There is nothing much I can add to this. I wrote a rant concerning this and posted it on myspace and covered similar points. Yes, these music industry hacks know what they are doing, and that is getting the world talking about a show which most people could give a rat’s ass about. This stunt, which is totally what it was, even has gotten The President talking about it, and in that case I can just see these assholes all high fiving and patting each other on their backs.Just another reason why I quit watching these shows years ago, not to mention that it never represents good music but only what the industry shoves down the publics throats, as dictated by Clearchannel and the major label monopolies run by the suits.
September 17, 2009 @ 7:00 am
Triggerman,
I say this with the utmost of the utmost respect. I love your website. I get the RSS feed. I have been reading since your myspace days.
The reason I come here is to read about REAL country projects that don’t get any press. I loved your review on Justin Townes Earle. I love the hints you drop about Hank III news. Even though I don’t particularly like the Rachel and Junk project, I appreciate reading about it on your site because it is different than the crap that is shoved down my throat all day everywhere else.
Basically what I’m saying is: you fill an important niche on the internet, please don’t abandon that for this. I bet if you posted a poll >90% of your return readers don’t give a shit about Taylor Swift. Hell, I bet >90% of your return readers don’t give a shit about pop country at all. You are preaching to the choir.
Keep up the good work, though. Hopeful this post doesn’t eliminate me from the Hank Williams Birthday Contest…
September 17, 2009 @ 7:45 am
i say yes.
September 17, 2009 @ 8:56 am
To me it’s 50/50, I could see it either way. It’s obviously a massive victory for Taylor Swift and her 10 million in sales will likely hit 12 before the end of the year because of this, but there are things about Kanye that make me skeptical that he’d be so willing to jump into something like this in a pre-planned manner.
I can understand what a lot of your readers are saying about reporting on the real country acts rather than this pop celebrity stuff but I think this is entirely necessary. This new wave of country is gaining its steam due to the insane excesses of Nashville (as well as on its own musical merits, of course.) If the top dog of the country machine is getting free shills thanks to a jackass stunt by MTV and a hip-hop act I do think that ought to be examined. In order to be saving country music you have to be saving it from something and this part of it needs to be aired.
September 17, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Hey Big A,
You have no need to worry. I’ve had a few people concerned that I am just going to be writing some celeb gossip column from now on or something, and that is just a ridiculous notion.
I started this blog to cover the artists that had been neglected by the mainstream media and radio. That was my aim then, and that is my aim now. I would never NOT talk about one artist just to cover a story like this. There are plenty of stories and plenty of time for REAL musicians to get the coverage they deserve.
Having said that, I feel the need to point out that the articles that I write that are reviews of CD’s, interviews with artists, are a lot of times the least popular articles I write. I learned when I first started this thing that not every article is going to appeal to everyone, and that is OK. Though I do have some readers that read everything I write, some just read what appeals to them.
To be honest, when I thought about writing this article, I did not have my core readers in mind. There had been a lot of discussion in my previous Swift article of whether the incident was a hoax or not, and even though I found a lot of people talking about it being a hoax in the comments of other blogs and news articles, NOBODY had put all of the evidence that it was a hoax together in one place. That is why I decided to do it. Somebody on the world wide web needed to do this, so I decided to be the one. I get 50-100 hits on the website every day from people just using Google to find information, so now if people want all the info, it is in one place, and that is why I tried to be as impartial about it as I could, so people could make their own choices.
And finally, I will warn you, there will be more Swift articles coming up. I said in my first article about her that she was now #1 on my shit list, and I was not kidding. I’m gonna be riding her tail, because I think it is important for the music. Taylor and other pop country artists are the reason someone like me exists. THEY are pushing the best and brightest of country and music in general into the underground, and we need to hold them to task.
I really appreciate you leaving your truthful comment Big A, because it means you care. And that is the biggest compliment a writer can get.
September 17, 2009 @ 11:54 am
Taylor is young. The video of her watching the CMA nomintaion may be legit. I mean selling 10 million records is something they tell you, but is not really as tangible as seeing someone say your name for an award.
Either way Taylor Swift is not country and MTV sucks.
September 18, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Who cares ?