Celebrity Feuds That Played Out at the VMAs: Kanye West vs Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj vs Miley Cyrus and More

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Celebrity Feuds That Played Out at the VMAs: Kanye West vs Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj vs Miley Cyrus and More

VMAs, what's good? Throughout its history, the MTV Video Music Awards has been responsible for kickstarting a handful of famous celebrity feuds. Fans will never forget the moment Kanye West stormed the stage seeking justice for Beyoncé after Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video award in September 2009. "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time," West exclaimed. Swift attempted to keep her cool as the Yeezy designer left the stage, but would go on to use the dramatic incident as inspiration for more than one song. West initially apologized for the "rude" display during a 2009 interview with Jay Leno. "I'm just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away from a talented artist or from anyone, because I only wanted to help people," the Grammy winner said at the time, noting that he "immediately knew" he'd made a mistake. The Pennsylvania native, for her part, reflected on the response from others at the awards show. "I'm not going to say I wasn't rattled by it. I had to perform live five minutes later, so I had to get myself back to the place where I could perform," she said on The View in September 2009. "All the other artists who showed me love in the hours following that, I just never imagined there were that many people out there looking out for me." [jwplayer ZVBdMD0g-zhNYySv2] Tension continued to grow between the musicians for years — and things became even messier in 2016 when Kim Kardashian stepped in with receipts about her then-husband's song "Famous." In a statement addressing the drama at the time, the "Bad Blood" singer claimed, "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world." Kardashian, however, claimed otherwise. "She totally approved that," the reality star told GQ in June 2016 before she leaked videos of West and Swift's conversation. "She totally knew that that was coming out. She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't." Nearly four years later, the entire unedited conversation was leaked and it was revealed that West did share his lyrics with Swift, but they were different from the ones that made it on the recording. Kardashian previously asserted on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2019 that she was "over" the drama between Swift and the "Stronger" rapper, from whom she split in February 2021. In 2015, the VMAs were responsible for sparking another highly publicized feud, this time between Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus. After the Last Song actress, who was hosting the awards that year, dissed the "Starships" rapper in an interview with The New York Times, Minaj put her on blast. "And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press," she said on the VMAs stage during the live broadcast. "Miley, what's good?" The Other Woman star didn't seem to be over the tiff in June 2019, when she appeared to reference Cyrus during an episode of her "Queen Radio" show. "Perdue chickens can never talk s--t about queens," Minaj said of the Black Mirror actress at the time. "She disrespected me in a magazine article for no reason. ... Now you coming out with pink wigs, all you bitches wanna be Nicki." Scroll down for a look back at some of the most scathing feuds to play out at the VMAs through the years: [podcast_block]

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Celebrity Feuds That Played Out at the VMAs: Kanye West vs Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj vs Miley Cyrus and More

VMAs, what's good? Throughout its history, the MTV Video Music Awards has been responsible for kickstarting a handful of famous celebrity feuds. Fans will never forget the moment Kanye West stormed the stage seeking justice for Beyoncé after Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video award in September 2009. "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time," West exclaimed. Swift attempted to keep her cool as the Yeezy designer left the stage, but would go on to use the dramatic incident as inspiration for more than one song. West initially apologized for the "rude" display during a 2009 interview with Jay Leno. "I'm just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away from a talented artist or from anyone, because I only wanted to help people," the Grammy winner said at the time, noting that he "immediately knew" he'd made a mistake. The Pennsylvania native, for her part, reflected on the response from others at the awards show. "I'm not going to say I wasn't rattled by it. I had to perform live five minutes later, so I had to get myself back to the place where I could perform," she said on The View in September 2009. "All the other artists who showed me love in the hours following that, I just never imagined there were that many people out there looking out for me." [jwplayer ZVBdMD0g-zhNYySv2] Tension continued to grow between the musicians for years — and things became even messier in 2016 when Kim Kardashian stepped in with receipts about her then-husband's song "Famous." In a statement addressing the drama at the time, the "Bad Blood" singer claimed, "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that bitch’ in front of the entire world." Kardashian, however, claimed otherwise. "She totally approved that," the reality star told GQ in June 2016 before she leaked videos of West and Swift's conversation. "She totally knew that that was coming out. She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't." Nearly four years later, the entire unedited conversation was leaked and it was revealed that West did share his lyrics with Swift, but they were different from the ones that made it on the recording. Kardashian previously asserted on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2019 that she was "over" the drama between Swift and the "Stronger" rapper, from whom she split in February 2021. In 2015, the VMAs were responsible for sparking another highly publicized feud, this time between Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus. After the Last Song actress, who was hosting the awards that year, dissed the "Starships" rapper in an interview with The New York Times, Minaj put her on blast. "And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press," she said on the VMAs stage during the live broadcast. "Miley, what's good?" The Other Woman star didn't seem to be over the tiff in June 2019, when she appeared to reference Cyrus during an episode of her "Queen Radio" show. "Perdue chickens can never talk s--t about queens," Minaj said of the Black Mirror actress at the time. "She disrespected me in a magazine article for no reason. ... Now you coming out with pink wigs, all you bitches wanna be Nicki." Scroll down for a look back at some of the most scathing feuds to play out at the VMAs through the years: [podcast_block]

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Madonna vs. Courtney Love (1995)

The "Like a Virgin" singer was in the middle of a post-show interview when Love began hurling items she'd found in her makeup bag her way. Kurt Loder, who was conducting the interview, proceeded to invite the Hole performer to join Madonna for the conversation.

"Courtney Love's in dire need of attention right now," Madonna teased.

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Fiona Apple vs. The Awards (1997)

After being announced as the Best New Artist winner, the "Sleep to Dream" singer put the awards show on blast. "Oh man, oh man. I didn't prepare a speech and I'm sorry," she began. "But I'm glad that I didn't because I'm not going to do this the way that everybody else does it."

She continued: "Everybody out there that's watching this world: this world is bulls--t. And you shouldn't model your life around what we think is cool, and what we're wearing and we're saying and everything. Go with yourself."

Though she was heavily criticized for the candid moment, Apple had no regrets. "When I have something to say, I'll say it," she told Rolling Stone the following year.

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Eminem vs. Moby (2002)

While the men's bad blood dates back to the 2001 Grammys, their feud came to a head during the 2002 VMAs when Conan O'Brien's infamous puppet sidekick, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, told Moby a joke about Eminem's past comments. The Missouri native later threatened to fight Moby while accepting an award on the stage.

Nearly a decade later, Moby seemed to confirm that the argument was long behind them. "I think at this point I'm so far below Eminem's radar," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2011. "Eminem is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet."

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Russell Brand vs. the Jonas Brothers (2008)

The British comic took aim at the Disney stars while hosting the 2008 awards, poking fun at their choice to wear purity rings. "Jonas Brothers is a pop group made up of young men who deliberately don't have sex with their fans," Brand teased.

Brand apologized after receiving backlash for the remark, and at the time, the New Jersey natives took the high road. "For us, it's cool to see that he recognizes we are gentleman," Nick Jonas said in an interview.

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Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift (2009)

The feud to end all feuds began at Radio City Music Hall in New York City when the "Mean" singer took the stage to accept the trophy for Best Female Video. West crashed her speech, uttering the now-iconic line, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time."

Over the years, the duo penned diss tracks about each other, but appeared to be on better terms at the 2015 VMAs when Swift presented the rapper with the Video Vanguard Award. However, Kardashian inserted herself into the drama, accusing the Cats actress of "playing the victim" for attention.

Swift seemed to put an end to the saga once and for all with a pointed Instagram note in 2016, writing, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009." 

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Diddy vs. J. Cole (2013)

The rappers reportedly threw hands at a VMAs after party in New York City. Fans were convinced Cole went on to reference the alleged incident on his song "Let Go My Hand," which features Diddy on the outro. In June 2021, the pair seemingly reenacted the scuffle in a playful Instagram video.

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Taylor Swift vs. Harry Styles (2013)

While accepting the Best Female Video award for Red single "I Knew You Were Trouble," Swift appeared to throw shade at the One Direction heartthrob — who was in the audience. "I also want to thank the person who inspired this song because he knows exactly who he is," she said of her ex. (The musicians briefly dated before splitting in early 2013.)

Later on, the "Cardigan" singer was caught chatting with Selena Gomez as the U.K. boyband spoke on the stage — and appeared to mutter, "Shut the f--k up," while Styles had the mic.

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Nicki Minaj vs. Miley Cyrus (2015)

Before the awards even began, things got heated between the two artists. Minaj went on a Twitter spree after "Anaconda" was snubbed for Video of the Year, and Cyrus, the host of the 2015 event, reacted during an interview with The New York Times.

"What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. It's not very polite," the Hannah Montana alum said.

Minaj ended up winning Best Hip-Hop Video that year — and didn't hesitate to call Cyrus out when she took the stage. "And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press," she said. "Miley, what's good?"

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Fifth Harmony vs. Camila Cabello (2017)

The "Havana" songstress exited the girl group in 2016, and the following year, fans were shocked by the remaining members' jaw-dropping VMAs performance. Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui were joined by a fifth person at first — but the mannequin was promptly catapulted off the stage.

"It definitely hurt my feelings," Cabello told The New York Times in 2018. "I wasn't expecting it, I wasn't prepared for it — especially because at that point I'd moved on from it. I was just like, 'What? Why?'"

Brooke, however, previously explained to GMA, "We wanted to show the world in an artistic way that, 'Hey, the four of us are Fifth Harmony and we're stronger and better than we've ever been,' and honestly it was such a monumental moment for us."

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Machine Gun Kelly vs Conor McGregor (2021)

The rapper and the fighter were spotted in an apparent squabble on the red carpet of the 2021 VMAs. While reports claimed that it began when McGregor asked for a photo with Kelly, the athlete's rep turned that down, telling Us, "This is totally false.  [There was] no photo request. Machine Gun attended Conor’s last fight. Conor appreciates all his fans."