LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Kanye West appeared to blame the pain of his mother 's death two years ago for his `` rude '' behavior at Sunday 's MTV Video Music Awards . Kanye West took the microphone from Taylor Swift during her speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards . The rapper told Jay Leno he would now `` take some time off '' to think about how he will `` make it through the rest of this life . '' West 's appearance on Monday 's prime-time premiere of `` The Jay Leno Show '' capped a 24-hour period that began Sunday evening with him strolling down the red carpet at New York 's Radio City Music Hall while gulping from a bottle of Cognac . The low-light came about an hour later , when West jumped onstage and grabbed the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepted the Best Female Video award . West declared that Beyonce Knowles should have won . Watch West grab the microphone from Swift » . West appeared sober and humble when he spoke on Leno 's Los Angeles stage Monday , an appearance that was originally to be just musical . `` I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong , '' West told Leno . `` And it was n'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 . '' Watch Kanye try to make amends » . 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 . '' West said he was n't trying to justify his behavior , `` because I was just in the wrong . That 's clear . '' `` But I need to , after this , just to take some time off and analyze how I 'm going to , you know , make it through the rest of this life , how I 'm going to improve , '' he said . `` Because , I am a celebrity and that 's something I have to deal with . '' He said he would like to personally apologize to Swift , a 19-year-old pop-country singer . `` And if there 's anything I can do to help Taylor in the future or help anyone , I want to live this thing . It 's hard sometimes , so . '' West then joined fellow hip-hop superstars Jay-Z and Rihanna to perform `` Run This Town , '' a song they recorded together . The timing of West 's antics came at a good time for Leno , who embarked on a new era of his career Monday . After 17 years of hosting `` The Tonight Show , '' Leno debuted his 10 p.m. weeknight talk show on NBC . Apologies from celebrities behaving badly have boosted Leno 's ratings . In 1995 , Leno enjoyed a ratings-grabbing moment when he asked actor Hugh Grant , `` What the hell were you thinking ? '' Grant had been arrested two weeks earlier for public lewd conduct with a Hollywood hooker . Watch the outcry over West 's outburst » . When Grant told Leno `` I did a bad thing , '' it gave Leno 's `` Tonight Show '' a viewership bump that has been credited with solidifying his lead over rival David Letterman in the late-night ratings war . iReport.com : Leno gets an `` A all the way '' This is just the kind of `` immediacy '' Leno was talking about in a call with reporters last week . `` The idea here is that we 'll tape a new , fresh show every single day , talking about the events that happened that day that night , '' Leno said . Jerry Seinfeld also appeared on Leno 's premiere Monday .
Rapper grabbed mic from Taylor Swift as she accepted the Best Female Video award . West appears on `` The Jay Leno Show '' and says `` it was rude , period '' Apologies from celebrities behaving badly have boosted Leno 's ratings .