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Kanye's Tantrum Smells Staged

VMA debacle with Taylor Swift 'merely a way to distract' from MTV's lacking lineup

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2009 9:10 AM CDT

(Newser) – Kanye West’s outburst at last night’s Video Music Awards allowed MTV “to sneak up behind the rest of the cable lineup and command the television-watching nation’s attention"—a definite coup when you consider it was competing with the US Open, football, and the True Blood finale, and the fact “that this year’s awards were very lacking in buzz,” writes Maura on the Idolator blog. Which begs the question: Was it staged?

Take Kanye’s “history of raising hell," pit that against Taylor Swift—“the sweetest, most innocent persona in all of Radio City Music Hall”—and ta da! Buzz ensues and MTV scores. The scene West caused smells even fishier when you consider his previous outbursts, at MTV-sponsored events, no less. Plus Beyonce comes “out smelling like a rose after all this,” Maura continues. “It just all feels so…calculated.”

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Beyonce, left, holds her "Video of the Year" award while Taylor Swift addresses the crowd at the MTV Music Video Awards, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the "Best Female Video" award during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

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Kanye West created buzz for the MTV Video Music Awards with his interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. (SuperAutotune)

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Kanye's Tantrum Smells Staged