Kanye West says sorry to Swift on Jay Leno show

A tearful and contrite Kanye West has made a second rambling apology to Taylor Swift, the young country singer whose acceptance speech he interrupted at the MTV video music awards on Sunday night.

The rap star went on Jay Leno's new late-night chatshow last night to say he was sorry for being "rude" and announced he was going to take some time off.

West sparked outrage at the MTV awards in New York after he grabbed the microphone from Swift, who was in the middle of her acceptance speech for winning best female video for her single You Belong to Me. The 19-year-old was left humiliated as West shouted that the award should have gone to Beyonce, for her video Single Ladies. West subsequently made a lengthy apology to Swift on his blog, saying "that was Taylor's moment and I had no right... to take it away."

The rapper's outburst was witnessed by a live audience of 27 million and saw him slated by his peers in the audience and by commentators. Even the US president waded into the debate when Barack Obama apparently called West "a jackass" in an off-camera portion of an interview with CNBC. The comment briefly appeared in a White House reporter's Twitter stream, but was quickly erased.

West had been scheduled to perform on Jay Leno's prime-time debut on NBC, but also took time out to talk about the controversy. Leno asked West to "tell us about your day. Have you had a tough day today"?

On the verge of tears, West replied: "It's been extremely difficult, just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away, you know, from a talented artist - or from anyone."

West also seemed to blame his actions on the death of his mother, Donda, who died in November 2007 from complications following cosmetic surgery. Patting him on the knee, Leno asked the rap star what he thought his mother would have said about his outburst.

After several pauses, West said: "I don't try and justify it, because I was in the wrong. Because I am a celebrity and I just have to deal with that... and if there's anything I can do to help Taylor or to help anyone else, I want to. I want to live this thing, but it's hard sometimes."