Lady Gaga may have won an Oscar for A Star is Born in 2019, but her star status had been cemented 10 years prior with a performance that was quickly overshadowed by one of the most controversial award show moments of all time.
It was on a Sunday in September 2009 when 23-year-old Gaga took the MTV VMAs stage after being introduced by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz and Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta.
What followed was four minutes and 27 seconds that, until August 2019, had only been available to watch via bootleg copies stealthily shared by Gaga’s ‘Little Monsters’.
Watch the video above.
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And when MTV finally released the official footage of Gaga’s Paparazzi performance a decade on, the whole world finally got to appreciate what became lost the second Ye (formerly Kanye West) grabbed the microphone from Taylor Swift, kicking off one of the biggest pop culture feuds in modern history.
Going into the 2009 MTV VMAs, Gaga – who had released her debut album The Fame one year prior – knew it was going to be a big night.
She was tied with Beyoncé for the most MTV VMAs nominations that year, and would ultimately walk away from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall with three awards, including Best New Artist.
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But it was what’s since become widely regarded as one of her best live performances to date that well and truly introduced the eccentric genius that is Mother Monster to the world – and 15 years on, MTV created a whole new category (VMAs Most Iconic Performance) that Gaga’s Paparazzi performance has been nominated for.
Over the years, Gaga has developed a reputation for her shocking artistic statements (remember the meat dress?) but the 2009 MTV VMAs was one of the first times the world got to see it up close and personal.
It was, after all, the first time she was performing at the award show, and she needed to leave her mark.
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What happened to Lady Gaga while performing Paparazzi at the 2009 VMAs?
Sprawling on stage under a fallen chandelier after Katy Perry and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry’s We Will Rock You and Swift’s You Belong with Me performances, Gaga launched into a pared-back version of Poker Face‘s chorus, before amping up the drama.
Paparazzi‘s lyrical metaphor paints a deeper picture of unrequited love – but Gaga has also made it clear the song’s message is surface-level as well, with the lyrics about the relationship between celebrities and paparazzi, and her 2009 VMAs performance, serving as a matter-of-fact statement on toxic tabloid culture.
“If I’m gonna be sexy on the VMAs and sing about the paparazzi, I’m gonna do it while I’m bleeding to death and reminding you of what fame did to Marilyn Monroe. And what it did to Anna Nicole Smith,” Gaga said in her 2017 documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two of her 2009 performance.
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In 2009, she also told MTV News that she wanted her VMAs performance to reflect how ”the celebrity sort of has this inevitable demise that we love to watch”.
After her Poker Face introduction, Gaga quickly set to work with her statement, staggering around stage singing Paparazzi in a mask, cape, white underwear and a bejewelled bra.
At one point, Gaga was seen bashing her feet and hands on a piano, with the camera cutting to a now-disgraced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs with his mouth open in shock.
Then, as she wailed out the song’s famous line – “I’m your biggest fan I’ll follow you until you love me” – Gaga lurched across the stage, suddenly covered in fake blood.
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The audience was audibly horrified as Gaga’s backup dancers strung her up with a rope as she screamed and sang the song’s final lines, with the camera zooming in on Gaga’s fake blood-covered eyes as she slowly spun above the stage, eventually dropping the microphone – literally.
In an ironic twist of fate, Gaga’s Paparazzi performance ended up being robbed of enduring glory by the very thing she was making an artistic statement about – media bombarding a young starlet.
That young starlet, however, was not Gaga but a then-19-year-old relatively unknown Swift, who had unwittingly become embroiled in scandal when Ye stormed onto the stage during her Best Female Video acceptance speech.
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He said into the stolen microphone of Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It): “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!”
Swift was then left holding the microphone as the crowd booed, with Ye handing it back to her and strolling off the stage, before being ejected from the awards show. Beyoncé would then go on to win Video of the Year for Single Ladies, and call Swift back to the stage to let her finish her acceptance speech.
Perhaps, at this year’s MTV VMAs on September 11 (Thursday in Australia), Gaga may finally receive the flowers she deserved in 2009.
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