Kanye West’s recent whirlwind of controversy has made entities reluctant to embrace him, but the BBC has announced plans for a documentary and podcast on the Chicago rap mogul.
The British broadcaster revealed on Wednesday (February 15) that the Yeezy-centric content will explore the “rollercoaster life and career of Kanye West.”
Tentatively titled We Need to Talk About Kanye, the one-off documentary will follow award-winning journalist Mobeen Azhar as he wrestles with Ye’s current place in pop culture following his series of antisemitic outbursts in 2022.
Unfolding as Kanye gears up for another presidential campaign in 2024, the film also promises to examine his “complex journey” from adoration and acclaim to “condemnation and notoriety.”
We Need to Talk About Kanye will air on BBC 2 with Stefan Mattison on board as the primary director. A premiere date is expected to be announced in the coming months.
The podcast element, titled The Kanye Story, will serve as an eight-part audio story diving deeper into certain aspects of Ye’s prolific yet polarizing two-decade career, with various music industry voices lending their expertise throughout the series.
Kanye himself isn’t directly involved with either the documentary or podcast, as was the case with Netflix’s three-part jeen-yuhs docuseries that arrived last year.
Kanye’s anti-Jewish tirades in 2022 were allegedly tied to over 30 bigoted incidents, per the Anti-Defamation League, with his remarks also being parodied in season 26’s premiere episode of South Park earlier this month.
Ye has been relentlessly criticized for his repeated antisemitic comments, and despite the pushback and financial loss he’s faced, has continued to double down on his love of Hitler.
Just about all of Ye’s business partnerships and brand deals have been severed, including those with adidas, Def Jam, Balenciaga, Gap, CAA and more.
adidas is taking their losses on the chin as they could reportedly lose up to $1.3 billion in 2023 sales revenue as a result of cutting ties with Kanye.
According to a statement obtained by TMZ, the German sportswear giant is in possession of numerous Yeezy designs that it’s unable to sell. adidas previously claimed in November it was going to repurpose said designs under a different name.
The statement added that adidas could be drained of an additional $534 million if it’s unable to repurpose the remaining Yeezy clothes, with CEO Bjørn Gulden adding that “the numbers speak for themselves.”
“We are currently not performing the way we should,” Gulden wrote, adding 2023 will serve as a transitional year for the company. There is reportedly a clause in Kanye’s contract with adidas that states the Chicago hitmaker would receive a reduced fee if Yeezy designs were sold without his affiliation, but adidas informed TMZ it doesn’t want to give Kanye another penny of its money.
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