The iHeartRadio Music Awards took place last night – I know! I can’t believe I missed them either, it ruined my morning.
Despite my ignorance, it was certainly a star-studded affair, with artists including but not limited to T-Pain and Taylor Swift attending.
Taylor has had a difficult relationship with awards ceremonies ever since Kanye West’s now infamous ‘I’mma let you finish’ stage invasion at the Video Music Awards ten years ago. Thankfully it’s not held her back in becoming one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.
Unfortunately, it seems Taylor’s tumultuous times at music award ceremonies isn’t over, as auto-tuned maestro T-Pain decided to crack a joke so cringe-worthy you can feel the collective embarrassment seep through the audience and onto your screen.
For some reason, T-Pain thought it’d be a good idea to make a joke about the time his head inadvertently made contact with Taylor Swift’s chest or, as he put it, ‘headbutting’ her ‘boobs’.
The rapper was hosting the awards, and was onstage when he said:
Taylor – I’ve never apologised to you [for] the first time we met… You’re so much taller than me that I thought you were standing on something, so without looking down I tried to stand on whatever I thought you were standing on and bam, headbutted you right in the boob, I am so sorry. That was not my intention.
While T-Pain’s speech may be well-intentioned, saying it to Taylor Swift who a) hasn’t had the best times at award ceremonies due to guys saying weird things and b) literally went through and won a sexual harassment lawsuit after she was groped by a former radio host, it was an arse-clenchingly awkward moment.
And Taylor’s face says it all:
For those of you wondering, Taylor isn’t actually that much taller than T, there’s only five centimetres (presumably without shoes) in it according to Google.
Who knows, maybe she was standing on top of a sick beat or something and that’s why T-Pain couldn’t see it?
Naturally, viewers of the iHeartRadio awards picked up on the awkward vibe that was screaming in everyone’s face.
During the ceremony, Taylor won the award for Tour of the Year, hinting at having new music on the way in her acceptance speech. She also walked away with the award for Best Music Video in the ‘Socially Voted Category’ for her track Delicate.
Go on Tay Tay!
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.