And the 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Music Video goes to . . . Taylor Swift.

“Yo, Taylor,” Kanye West said after walking on stage and grabbing the microphone from Swift during her acceptance speech. “I’m really happy for you. I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

And the award for biggest jerk ever (besides LeBron James) goes to . . . Kanye West.

It’s been almost a year since rapper Kanye West hijacked country singer Taylor Swift’s moment in the spotlight by interrupting her acceptance speech at the VMAs. Swift’s music video for her hit song “You Belong With Me” was chosen as the best female video. Apparently Kanye wasn’t OK with that.

(For the record, neither am I. As far as the worst music ever goes, country music is second only to traditional Chinese opera music. And traditional Chinese opera music is absolutely terrible.)

Kanye’s — probably drunken, at least I hope — stunt was in support of Beyonce and her choreographed, hip-shakin’ video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” While it may have been “one of the best videos of all time,” dude shouldn’t have jumped on stage and ruined what was probably one of the biggest moments of a young singer’s life. Besides, “Single Ladies” ended up winning Video of the Year honors later that night.

Kanye’s actions sparked a backlash of angry sentiment in the minds of those who consider themselves to be his fans, those that don’t consider themselves fans and even those who are the current president.

“I thought it was really inappropriate,” President Barack Obama said in an off-the-record portion of a CNBC interview days after the incident. “The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there? He’s a jackass.”

Zing! Ouch. Even the leader of the free world thought Kanye’s actions were foolish.

Last year’s VMAs were hardly the first time the outspoken rapper has acted out. He walked out of the 2004 American Music Awards after losing Best New Artist to country singer Gretchen Wilson. He posed as Jesus wearing a crown of thorns on the cover of Rolling Stone after his song “Jesus Walks” won a Grammy. And who could forget his off-the-cuff “George Bush hates black people” rant during the live TV fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

After canceling a tour with Lady Gaga and discontinuing his clothing line, Kanye is trying his best to redeem his public image and salvage his career. He has taken to Twitter, as many big-mouthed celebrities do these days, to speak his mind.

“How deep is the scar . . . I bled hard,” Kanye tweets. “People tweeted that they wish I was dead . . . no listen. They wanted me to die people. I carry that. I smile and take pictures through that.”

Woe is Kanye West, according to Kanye West. He claims he is a changed man. He has used Twitter to apologize to Swift on numerous occasions. He even wrote a song for the country singer that he hopes she will perform. If she doesn’t, he says he will.

The 2010 VMAs are Sunday and, who knows, maybe Swift will perform with Kanye. Maybe he will interrupt someone else’s speech. Maybe he’s not invited.

One thing’s for sure: No matter what Kanye West says or does in the future, he’ll always be a knucklehead.

Mike Crissman is a sophomore newspaper journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].