When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of the company in August, several tributes were paid to him and his leadership. At that time, Next Media Animation (NMA) released a video in which it highlights the life and career of Jobs in a tongue-in-cheek manner, depicting his departure from (and later return to) Apple and portraying him as Darth Vader.

When Jobs passed away earlier this month, NMA was again on hand to pay its own tribute to him with a video that I thought was actually kind of poignant. However, it seems that Apple has not taken too kindly to either of those videos or NMA’s irreverent tone, as the company has rejected the iPad app that NMA submitted to the App Store.

How do we know this? Well, NMA has released a new animated YouTube video detailing what it claims happened in its dealings with Apple. NMA says that Apple rejected the app as it apparently contained offensive and defamatory content. NMA points out that while it does not publish defamatory content, its videos could certainly be taken as offensive, but the company’s videos always make a little fun of others.

While Apple does not allow apps containing defamatory or offensive content in the App Store, NMA says that the company makes exceptions for political satirists and humorists — a category that NMA probably falls under. Other apps that Apple has banned in the past include a President Barack Obama trampoline game, a game featuring former President George W. Bush and a “South Park” app.

It’s a little strange that NMA’s app has been banned from the App Store, unless Apple employees were somewhat annoyed by the company’s depiction of Jobs and Apple in previous videos. There’s little doubt that NMA often goes a little over-the-top (look at the videos that tackle Google+ and recent Facebook updates, for instance), but that’s actually part of its charm as the videos are far too silly to be taken seriously most of the time.

Check out the video below. Do you think NMA’s app should be allowed in the App Store?