Meme lore
What is the Interrupting Kanye meme?
Interrupting Kanye is a reaction template built around Kanye West taking the microphone while Taylor Swift holds her award nearby. The upper caption introduces the person, idea, or choice being interrupted, while the lower caption gives Kanye’s more emphatic counterpoint.
Origin & history
The photograph depicts the September 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident in which Kanye West went onstage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and spoke into her microphone. Its recognizable composition—Kanye gesturing across the stage and Swift holding the award—was later reused as a general-purpose interruption and contrarian-opinion meme. The precise point at which this specific caption layout became standardized is unclear.
Customize this template with your own text, then download the finished JPEG free for Reddit, X, Instagram, Discord, or the group chat.
