Earlier this month, we told you about the upcoming, three-part Kanye West documentary: jeen-yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy—coming to Netflix in February.
However, before hitting the streamer, the film was expected to first make its debut at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. But much like with anything Ye related, an unexpected last minute twist was served just hours before the folks began viewing.
Per Complex, over the weekend, the Donda rapper took to Instagram just ahead of the film’s Sundance premiere to demand directors Clarence “Coodie” Smith and Chike Ozah “open the edit room” so that he could give his “final edit and approval.
“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time,” Ye said. “I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix. Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance.”
Sounds reasonable right?
Yeah, well, in a completely expected twist, Coodie and Chike moved forward with business as usual, saying only: “We have to be true to the story. We can’t sugarcoat nothing. Everybody is going to have their own opinion.”
Additionally, per a previous interview with Variety, co-director Coodie revealed that while Yeezy is listed as a producer for the film, he was not and would not be given the final cut.
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“I said, ‘Dude, you have to trust me.’ And he did, 100 percent,” Coodie said, noting that “[West’s] team and the business people have gotten involved” and are “of course going to have their say.”
As Coodie explained, however, the purpose of the documentary (or, for that matter, any doc) is not to make its subject likable, or the opposite. “What makes the film special is that it’s not something definitive; it’s [Ye’s] journey through my vision.”
Look, both Coodie and Chike have been friends with Ye for a long time now. They should’ve expected something like this to happen and honestly, vice versa for Ye. If you say you trust your friends, then trust them! Trying to stall literally at the 11th hour because you essentially want to protect your image is not how you treat your friends. But then again—Ye is always gonna Ye—so I guess I can’t be too surprised.
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy premieres Wednesday, Feb. 16