Kanye West is not happy with the soon to be released documentary following his career.
In an Instagram statement, he wrote that he wanted final cut rights to “Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,” a Netflix documentary that will be available this February.
“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix,” he wrote. “Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance,” he concluded, tacking on a smiley face emoji.
The documentary, directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, is an ambitious undertaking that has been 20 years in the making. It’s finally set for release on January 23rd at Sundance Film Festival, and streaming on Netflix, in February. The documentary has three parts and shows exclusive footage of Kanye’s career, slowly tracking his development as a musician until he became the global brand that he is today. It includes conversations with his late mother Donda and an inner look into various moments in his career, including the whole Taylor Swift debacle and his run for office in 2020.
According to Variety, Simmons and Ozah have final cut rights to the project, something that surprised everyone who’s heard of West and his approach with his art.
“I said, ‘Dude, you have to trust me.’ And he did, 100%,” said Simmons. “Mind you, when his team and the business-people have gotten involved, they’re of course going to have their say. But I needed to tell this story. It’s not about making Kanye likable or not. The footage doesn’t lie. What makes the film special is that it’s not something definitive; it’s his journey through my vision.” I guess Kanye didn’t agree with that.
