NBC: Kanye West set to rap and talk on ‘Jay Leno’ debut; Taylor Swift is likely topic

NBC: West set to rap and talk on ‘Jay Leno’ debut

LOS ANGELES — Kanye West is getting his Hugh Grant moment on Jay Leno’s new show.

West was set to perform with Rihanna and Jay-Z on Monday night’s debut of “The Jay Leno Show” but wasn’t originally scheduled to chat with the host.

But after West drew boos at the MTV Video Music Awards for ruining Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, NBC said the rapper will talk with Leno. The network announcement came less than an hour before the show’s taping Monday. It airs at 10 p.m. EDT.

Sitting down with Leno gives West the chance to apologize again for ruining Swift’s moment at the MTV Video Music Awards — just as Grant got to make amends in a 1995 visit to Leno’s “Tonight Show” after the actor was arrested with a prostitute.

West, who interrupted Swift as she accepted the best female video award for “You Belong With Me” to argue that Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” was more deserving, has apologized twice on his blog.

“I feel like Ben Stiller in ‘Meet the Parents’ when he messed up everything and Robert De Niro asked him to leave … That was Taylor’s moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry,” West said online.

However the visit pans out for West, Leno looks like a winner. His daily prime-time comedy show already was the most buzzed-about fall debut — and with West, it’s likely to draw even more curious viewers.

NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

On the Net:

www.nbc.com

www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/