Kanye West Almost Interrupted Beck's Big Grammy Win

In his second win of the night, Beck won the Grammy for Album of the Year—and kept his cool as Kanye West unexpectedly approached the stage, motioned as if to interrupt, then turned around and aborted the mission.

The move shocked Grammy viewers and instantly called to mind Kanye West's interruption at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when he took to the stage to inform Taylor Swift that Beyoncé had "one of the best videos of all time." Sunday night's moment also took place after Beyoncé lost a major award, and was presumably in her honor. Here's a Vine:

And here's Jay Z's cartoonishly shocked reaction:

Beck's award was for Morning Phase, for which he also won Best Rock Album. The album is an acclaimed, pastoral throwback to 2002's Sea Change. After receiving the award from Prince, Beck jokingly motioned for West to "come back" and thanked his children, who he says were kept awake while he was making the album.

UPDATE: In an E! interview after the show, Kanye West explained his half-stagebomb move. "I am here to fight for creativity," he explained, saying that Beck should have given the award to Beyoncé. "That's why I didn't say anything tonight, but you all knew what it meant when 'Ye stepped on that stage." Here's the full text of his lengthy explanation:

"I don't even know what [Beck] said. I just know that, the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We aren't going to play with them no more. 'Flawless.' Beyoncé's video. And Beck needs to respect artistry, he should have given his award to Beyoncé. At this point, we tired of it. What happens is, when you keep on diminishing art, and not respecting the craft, and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you're disrespectful to inspiration. We, as musicians, have to inspire people who go to work every day, and they listen to that Beyoncé album, and they feel like it takes them to a different place. And then they do this promotional event, and they'll run the music over somebody's speech, the artist, because they want commercial advertising. We aren't playing with them anymore. And by the way, I got my wife, my daughter, and I got my clothing line, so I'm not going to do nothing that would put my daughter at risk, but I am here to fight for creativity. That's why I didn't say anything tonight, but you all knew what it meant when 'Ye stepped on that stage."