When Taylor Swift Couldn’t ‘Keep Calm’ as Selena Gomez’s ‘Calm Down’ Won the Best Afrobeats Award

A night of thrilling performances and momentous accolades marked the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. Numerous well-known figures from the music industry attended the event, which was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. One of the night's biggest winners ended up being Selena Gomez.

The Best Afrobeats Award went to Gomez and Nigerian pop artist, Rema for their song Calm Down. Beaming with pride in the crowd was none other than her bestie, Taylor Swift, who couldn't "keep calm" while mouthing "I Love You" as Gomez accepted the coveted award on stage. 

Rema officially created history by becoming the first Afrobeats artist to win the prestigious MTV VMAs. As per Pulse, during his acceptance speech, he thanked his people and his country, "Africa in the house tonight ... this means so much seeing Afrobeats grow this big and being on this stage representing Afrobeats. I am so happy but one thing I will not forget to do tonight is forget to shout out the people who open the doors for me. Big shouts to Fela, who started Afrobeats in the first place, 2 Baba, Don Jazzy, D Banj, De Prince, Runtown, Timaya, 2Face, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido".

On the eve of releasing the hit track in 2022 Rema had exclusively told Pitchfork, “‘Calm Down’ is about the events that led me to find love at the time,” Rema said in a statement. “It started at a party where I saw a girl who stood out from other girls so I felt like shooting my shot. We spoke and danced... but her friends didn’t let me get any closer which killed the vibe, but afterward, when they weren’t there, we stayed in touch and hit it off.” As per Billboard, the Afrobeat track has smashed all records and has hit one billion streams on Spotify. 

The Wolves hitmaker stunned in a custom hand-beaded Oscar de la Renta scarlet gown, featuring a halter neckline and floral tendril skirt. As per Elle, Gomez was spotted supporting Swift, her bestie, by rising during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Video, the evening's first victory. During the event, they were also captured together conversing and hugging. The adorable photographs are the first time in a while that their friendship has been shown publicly.

The Icecream songstress and the Lavender Haze hitmaker hit it off with each other in 2008 while they were both dating the Jonas Brothers. (Selena was dating Nick while Taylor was dating Joe) In 2017, Gomez recalled their origin story, while on an exclusive with KIIS FM UK, she revealed they met because “We actually dated the Jonas Brothers together! It was hysterical. It was amazing because she was the girl with the big curly hair and all the bracelets and the cowboy boots. And I was definitely up-and-coming, and we just clicked. It was the best thing we got out of those relationships.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on September 12, 2023. It has since been updated.