Kanye West Apologizes To Taylor Swift

When it comes to their infamous onstage encounter in 2009, Kanye West and Taylor Swift made amends long ago — but the media and the public have stayed hung up on it for far longer. And I sincerely hope that Kanye West's VMAs acceptance speech for the Video Vanguard Award on Sunday night will finally put an end to it for good. Was taking the microphone from Swift at the 2009 VMAs one of West's finest moments? I think we can all agree that it wasn't, but he's taken responsibility for it repeatedly and expressed his regret. And if you doubted his sincerity, I think his tearful onstage apology at the 2015 VMAs should put those doubts to rest.

During his very long acceptance speech, West spent a good chunk of time expressing his regret for his actions and his appreciation to Swift for her willingness to let bygones be bygones:

First of all, thank you Taylor for being so gracious and giving me this award this evening and thank you. And I often think back to the first day I met you, also. You know, I think about when I'm in the grocery store with my daughter and I have a really great conversation about fresh juice at the, ya know... and at the end they say "Oh, you're not that bad after all." And like, I think about it sometimes. It crosses my mind a little bit like when I go to a baseball game and, um, 60,000 people boo me. It crosses my mind a little bit. And I think, if I had to do it all again. What would I have done? Would I have worn a leather shirt? Would I have drank a half a bottle of Hennessey and gave the rest of it to the audience? I know y'all drank that bottle too. If I had a daughter at that time, would I have went on stage and grabbed the mic from someone else's?

He even teared up — and if West was acting, he deserves an Oscar for that performance, but I sincerely doubt he was. West's emotion was a reminder that celebrities are human, but that when they make mistakes, they do so on a national stage and will be reminded of their worst moments for years to come. West has taken responsibility for his lapse in judgement that evening, Swift has graciously accepted his apology and moved on, and I think it's time for everyone else to do the same.