Watch: Jay Leno grills Kanye West on 'The Jay Leno Show' first night

Invokes the name of West's dead mother, makes viewers way uncomfortable

By Katie Hasty Tuesday, Sep 15, 2009 11:57 AM

Kanye West reacts on "The Jay Leno Show"

In one of the most uncomfortable minutes of television this side of "The Office," Jay Leno bumped Kanye West of his rails when he invoked the name of the rapper's dead mother last night on the first episode of "The Jay Leno Show."

As HitFix's Dan Fienberg said in his review of the night, Leno asked West what his now-deceased mother would have thought of his agregious behavior at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, bogarting the mic in the middle of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video.

West was slow and hesitant to answer, perhaps on the edge of tears, explaining that he "never took the time" after his mother passed away from complications due to plastic surgery in 2007. He says he wants to spend the next year figuring out how to "give back" and be a better person. Leno, who knew what a spot he put the rapper in, touched West's knee repeatedly, ultimately cooing "Are you ready to sing?".

After the very unfunny interview, West performed alongside Jay-Z and Rihanna on "Run This Town."

Check out the clip below.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.