AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The meme 'Kanye Interrupts,' also known as 'Imma let you finish,' illustrates a notorious incident where Kanye West disrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The template typically portrays Kanye West taking the microphone from Taylor Swift during her speech, visually capturing the moment right before he pronounces his now-famous phrase, declaring that Beyonce had 'one of the best music videos of all time.' This interruption and the resulting awkward and surprising scene became a popular basis for various image and text-based memes.

OriginWho did it first?

The origin of the 'Kanye Interrupts' meme dates back to September 13, 2009, during the live broadcast of the 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall. The event turned infamous when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for her Best Female Video award for 'You Belong With Me.' He stormed onto the stage, took the microphone from Swift, and expressed his view that Beyonce's video was superior, stating, 'Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time…one of the best videos of all time!' He was met with immediate backlash and boos from the audience, causing MTV to cut to commercial shortly after the incident. Beyonce later won the Video of the Year award for her song 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)' and graciously invited Swift back on stage to complete her speech, after Kanye's outburst. Kanye West was reportedly asked to leave the venue soon after the disruption and later issued a brief, now-deleted apology through an all caps blog post on his official website.^[1]

Origin: 2009