Kanye Not Running Any Town

Last night was a good one for television. The third season of "Gossip Girl" premiered on The CW (it was just okay, in my opinion. Nothing too exciting happened). I followed "Gossip Girl" with the premiere of "The Jay Leno Show" on NBC. It was mediocre at best. What I really wanted to see was Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye performing "Run This Town," which I haven't been able to get out of my head for two days (seriously--I listened to the song about ten times in a row). The song rocks my socks, and I must say all three performers did a great job live. The most interesting part of the show, however, was Kanye West's surprise, last-minute sit-down with Leno, turning what was a completely vanilla show for the over-40 suburban set into something a bit more interesting.

Kanye is known for being a bit of a jerk, but he's never faced backlash like he's getting from the Taylor Swift VMA debacle. Granted, he was completely in the wrong for doing that. Perez Hilton reports that even President Obama has allegedly called Kanye a "jackass." Kanye West is one of those celebrities who says controversial things--often talking about how awesome he is, West's ego is as big as they come. People who have to boast how great they are are usually the most insecure. Though his public persona is big, I can spot insecurities a mile away, and West practically screams them. On last night's "Leno," West wasn't humble, he was nerve-racked and broken down.

CNN reports:

"I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong," West told Leno. "And it wasn't a spectacle, you know. It was actually someone's emotions, you know, that I stepped on and it was very, it was just, it was rude, period."

When Leno asked West what his mother would have thought of his behavior, he fell silent for more than a dozen seconds and appeared near tears. Leno pressed him again.

"Would she be disappointed in this? Would she give you a lecture?"

West gave a rambling, emotional answer:
"Yeah, you know, obviously, you know, I deal with hurt and, you know, so many, you know, celebrities, they never take the time off, and I've never taken the time off to really, you know, I just, music after music and tour after tour on tour, and I'm just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else's hurt."

Note that I am in no way condoning West's actions at the VMA's on Sunday. It was stupid, he was probably drunk, and he's blown up to the point where he thinks that nothing can hurt his career. Quite the contrary, when you kick a little mouse like Taylor Swift, Hollywood's puppy dog, there will be backlash. But who could have imagined it would be this bad! Thank God for that scheduled "Leno" show appearance. Kanye might be able to do some damage control by slipping away for a while. It's not like he pulled a Chris Brown and literally pounded on Little Swift (thank God). But even looking at Chris Brown, he still has fans (amazingly). Perhaps West can take comfort in the fact that even though he's the most hated man in entertainment right now, that may only last a week. Chris Brown still reigns.

Check out Leno and Kanye below. After that, check out that badass video for "Run This Town."




"Run This Town" - Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West: