It turns out the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident that launched a thousand think pieces and defined a decade of celebrity beef might have had an unexpected architect: Hennessy.
On the Tuesday, May 5 episode of the Ball in the Family Podcast With Lonzo&Gelo Ball, Amber Rose, who was dating Kanye West at the time, finally opened up about her role in one of pop culture’s most infamous moments. The model and ex of Wiz Khalifa didn’t shy away from accountability. She admitted that before heading to the awards ceremony, she actively encouraged West to grab a bottle of Hennessy and start taking shots on the red carpet. As she put it on the podcast, she was simply being West’s biggest cheerleader—even when that cheerleading might backfire spectacularly.
“I don’t think I ever publicly talked about this. When I’m with a man, I’m his biggest cheerleader. I’mma hype you up. Even if you wrong, I’mma hype you up. Maybe that’s a toxic trait of mine but that’s just how I am,”Rose explained. She recounted the moment:“I was with Kanye at the time. We get in the car, we’re about to go to the VMAs and I go,‘Babe, you got that bottle of Hennessy upstairs. You a superstar. You need to get the Henny. We need to be taking shots of Henny on the [red] carpet.’I’m hyping him up.”
What followed, of course, was West storming the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video and declaring that Beyoncé’s“Single Ladies”video deserved the award instead. The moment—”Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”—became the spark that ignited a feud that has defined both artists’public personas for over 15 years.
Looking back, Rose acknowledges the method but questions the execution.“Do I agree with how he did it? No. But was he right? Yes.”Yet she also emphasized that the moment never actually poisoned her relationship with Swift. In fact, she revealed that when her then-younger son was a big Swiftie, Swift sent them a box of merchandise and concert tickets. Rose concluded with a note of maturity:“She understood that it wasn’t me that did it. I think we all got older and learned from our mistakes. It was a time in history that happened.”
The confession adds a curious layer to one of pop culture’s most dissected incidents. Sometimes the biggest moments in entertainment history come down to the smallest decisions—and maybe, just maybe, a bottle of cognac in the backseat of a car on the way to an awards show.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.