Kanye West froze when Jay Leno asked a deeply personal question amid Taylor Swift feud: "Would she..."
It seems like Kanye West is owning up to his mistakes! In September 2009, West appeared on an episode of Jay Leno's talk show 'The Jay Leno Show' and during the episode, Leno asked West a bunch of questions about Taylor Swift. For the unversed, the two music superstars' feud began when West interrupted Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while she was giving her acceptance speech after winning the Best Female Video award for 'You Belong with Me.' According to E! News, West took the microphone from Swift and said, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!"
In the episode, the talk show host told the studio audience that West wanted to have a little chat before performing his song 'Run This Town.' When Leno asked West if he had a tough day, the latter responded, "Yeah, it's been extremely difficult. Just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away from a talented artist." As per The Things, West offered an apology to Swift for his rude behavior. In his apology, West stated that he only "wanted to help people" and that his "entire life, I only wanted to give and do something that I felt was right." Then, West expressed his desire to apologize to Swift in person by saying, "I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong, and it wasn't a spectacle or just you know It's actually someone's emotions, you know, that I stepped on. It was rude. You know I would like to be able to apologize to her in person, and you know I wanted to."
Shortly afterward, Leno went on to ask West, "Let me ask you something. I was fortunate enough to meet your mom and talk with your mom a number of years ago. What do you think she would have said about this?" West was at a loss for words when Leno asked him what his mother, Donda West, who passed away in 2007 would have said regarding his behavior. Leno further added, "Would she be disappointed in this? Would she give you a lecture?" to which the 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' hitmaker responded, "Yeah, you know, obviously, I deal with hurt and so many celebrities they never take the time off."
West further added, "I've never taken the time off to [grieve]. You know, just music after music and tour after tour. I’m just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else’s hurt. My dream of what awards shows are supposed to be, ’cause and I don’t try to justify it because I was just in the wrong. That’s period. But I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I’m going to make it through the rest of this life, how I’m going to improve.”
During an interview with ABC Radio in 2009, Swift revealed that West had called her and apologized to her. The 'Blank Space' crooner explained, "Kanye did call me, and he was very sincere in his apology, and I accepted that apology. The support I got from other artists and from the fans, and so many people sticking up for me, that's what got me to the place where I could accept that apology. And I'm just very thankful that everyone showed me so much love."