Kanye West's History of Outbursts

Kanye West is known for his history of public outbursts throughout the years.

ByABC News
September 14, 2009, 12:29 PM

Sept. 15, 2009 -- Web sites like Twitter and Facebook blazed with reactions to the incident. The rapper was reportedly escorted out of the awards show with girlfriend Amber Rose. West apologized to Swift on his blog later that night, writing, "I'm not crazy ya'll. I'm just real. Sorry for that!!!!" Late Monday he took to his blog again to compare the incident to the movie "Meet the Parents." "I feel like Ben Stiller in "Meet the Parents" when he messed up everything and Robert De Niro asked him to leave," Kanye wrote. "That was Taylor's moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry."

West expressed more regret in a Monday night appearance on "The Jay Leno Show." When Leno asked West what his mother, who passed away last year, would have thought about the incident, a long, awkward pause ensued.

"I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong," West told Leno. "And it was very -- it was just -- it was rude, period. ... I'd like to be able to apologize to her in person."

"I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I'm going to make it through the rest of this life, how I'm going to improve," he added.

Swift is set to have her "moment" on "The View" this morning.

2007 MTV Music Awards

Kanye West has a history of outbursts at the MTV Music Awards. In 2007, the rapper declared that he would "never return to MTV" after Britney Spears was chosen to open the show instead of him. West performed his single "Stronger" in a suite at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas for the show, rather than on the main stage like Spears.

At a pre-VMA private performance, West said during a song, "I can't believe she [Britney Spears] would perform. She hasn't had a hit record in years."

He did not win any awards in the five categories to which he was nominated. He went on a tirade backstage, saying, "That's two years in a row, man … give a black man a chance. I'm trying hard man, I have the … number one record, man."

He went on a radio station in New York City after the show, saying, "I wasn't mad that I just didn't win any awards. For me, [MTV] made it seem like performing on the main stage was a bad thing, and the suites were just so great. It was my dream when I made 'Stronger' to open up the VMAs with a real power performance."

2006 MTV Europe Music Awards

Kanye West's run-in with Taylor Swift was not the rapper's first time interrupting another artist's acceptance speech. At the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, West got on stage after his video "Touch the Sky" lost to Justice and Simian's video "We Are Your Friends."

In a speech full of expletives, West took the mic from the duo and exclaimed that his video should have won because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. … I was jumping across canyons. … If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility."

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He did not win any awards in the five categories to which he was nominated. He went on a tirade backstage, saying, \"That's two years in a row, man … give a black man a chance. I'm trying hard man, I have the … number one record, man.\"

He went on a radio station in New York City after the show, saying, \"I wasn't mad that I just didn't win any awards. For me, [MTV] made it seem like performing on the main stage was a bad thing, and the suites were just so great. It was my dream when I made 'Stronger' to open up the VMAs with a real power performance.\"

2006 MTV Europe Music Awards

Kanye West's run-in with Taylor Swift was not the rapper's first time interrupting another artist's acceptance speech. At the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, West got on stage after his video \"Touch the Sky\" lost to Justice and Simian's video \"We Are Your Friends.\"

In a speech full of expletives, West took the mic from the duo and exclaimed that his video should have won because it \"cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. … I was jumping across canyons. … If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility.\"

Later that night, West claimed that the incident was due to him drinking before the show. \"I had a little sippy sippy,\" he told MTV U.K. He added that, after the show, he planned to do \"a little more sippy sippy.\"

The rapper responded to criticism about the incident, saying, \"People were so surprised at what I did. … I'm more surprised people thought I had changed.\" That same year, Kanye appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.","publishedDate":"2009-09-14T16:29:28Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"authorsStr":"ABC News","modifiedDate":"2009-09-16T18:11:25Z","section":"Entertainment","wordCount":760,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"xl","mediaType":"image","alignCaptionToBody":true},"ads":{"Sticky":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineBox":{},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":null,"featuredImage":{},"dateline":"Sept. 15, 2009","seo":{},"LivePromotion":{},"isShared":false},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]}},"upw":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","winningParty":"democrats","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. 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