"She was trying to stay alive and ensure her safety" — Netizens react to Taylor Swift and Jay-Z share a toast as Beyoncé wins AOTY at the Grammys

A video of Taylor Swift sharing a toast with Jay-Z after Beyoncé won Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammys for Cowboy Carter went viral on social media following the event at Crypto.com Arena on February 2. Swift was nominated in the same category for her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Beyoncé, accompanied by her daughter Blue Ivy, walked on the stage to receive her award presented to her by the Los Angeles Fire Department. In her acceptance speech, Beyoncé thanked the firefighters for their work to combat the LA wildfires, adding:

“I’d like to thank and acknowledge and praise all of the firefighters for keeping us safe. I just feel very full and very honored. It’s been many, many years. I just want to thank the Grammys, every songwriter, every collaborator, every producer, all of the hard work. I want to dedicate this to Ms. Martell, and I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors. God bless y’all. Thank you so much. Thank you.”

The clip of Swift toasting Jay-Z was met with mixed reviews as it made the rounds on X. One user claimed the singer clinked glasses with the rapper to "ensure her safety," alluding to the conspiracy theories about the couple's power in the industry that emerged after Sean "Diddy" Combs' arrest.

"She was trying to stay alive and ensure her safety."

May agreed with this sentiment, claiming Swift was "shook" after Beyoncé won. Others claimed she knew that Jay-Z allegedly paid the awards board to secure the win for Beyoncé.

"Taylor shook never seen her bend the knee like that before," one person posted.

"Taylor really is too good to everyone, she knew damn well it was all pay z," another person added.

"Taylor really needs to stop being so nice to these people in the industry who never support her the way she supports them and stay away from HIM Taylor come on," someone else said.

Several netizens praised Swift for her seemingly heartfelt gesture despite losing the award to Beyoncé in the same category, claiming she wasn't a "mean girl."

"Notice how she actually nice………….couldn’t be the mean girl yall want her to be," one user tweeted.

"Taylor is not that bitter mean girl y’all paint her out to be," another person added.

"Taylor will NEVER be the bitter one! Now I need the Swifties (not all of them, just #those ones) to take notes!" someone else exclaimed.

"She’s always supporting other artists around her but she was robbed tonight," another user wrote.

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Beyoncé earned her first Album of the Year with Cowboy Carter

This win marked Beyoncé's first AOTY win at the Grammys and fifth nomination in the category. While the singer's 2022 album, Renaissance, was nominated for Album of the Year during the 2023 Grammys, she lost to Harry Style's album, Harry's House.

During the 2024 Grammys, Jay-Z criticized the ceremony for allegedly snubbing his wife in the same category despite her many accolades.

“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has the most Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that: The most Grammys. Never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.

"Some of you gonna go home and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category,” Jay-Z said during his speech at the 2024 Grammys.

Cowboy Carter also won Best Country Album at the 2025 Grammys, which Taylor Swift presented to her. Beyoncé was seemingly shocked when Swift announced her name as the winner and, during her acceptance speech, added that she did not expect to win in the category.

This came after Beyoncé was snubbed at the Country Music Awards in 2024, with Cowboy Carter receiving zero nominations despite its success.

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In other news, Bey recently unveiled her Cowboy Carter & The Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour on social media. The announcement came hours after her success at the Grammys, where she took home three statues, including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for LEVII'S JEANS with Post Malone.

While Beyoncé has yet to announce the dates, she revealed the first nine locations, which included pit stops in LA, New York, London, Las Vegas, and Paris.