Kanye West made a surprise appearance at the premiere of jeen-yuhs, the new Netflix documentary about him, last night (February 11).
The film, the first part of which will arrive on the streaming service on Wednesday (February 16), was directed by Coodie and Chike and made over 20 years.
The premiere was held at Citizen News in Hollywood yesterday and was attended by numerous celebrities including Migos’ Offset, Usher, Roddy Ricch, and Taraji P. Henson.
According to Variety, West arrived 15 minutes after the screening had started and was given a chair in the front corner of the room. Afterwards, he joined the co-directors on stage, hugging them.
“When you have people next to you that believe in you and a community that sticks together, that’s the way that we can protect each other,” the rapper said, addressing the crowd. “Hollywood a lot of times – like I got my man DaBaby right here – people try to cancel us and we all run away from each other and scatter or we be not talking to each other, not communicating.”
He continued by using late NBA star Kobe Bryant using a homophobic slur during an LA Lakers game in 2011 to illustrate his point. “When Kobe died, there’s people that brought up his mistake, but I always felt that that was a setup, that was something to diminish the man because he never learned how to be a slave,” he said.
“This man spoke Italian. This man could play ball. This man spoke multiple languages. he never learned a certain kind of mentality.”
West reportedly also claimed that Apple Music’s Global Creative Director had offered him $100million (£74M) to release ‘Donda’, but the star turned down the fee because he “never got a meeting with Tim Cook”.
“So, it ain’t about the money,” West added. “It’s about our power and our respect collectively.”
In January, West made a statement about jeen-yuhs on Instagram, in which he 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.” In a later interview, Coodie and Chike confirmed that the rapper’s request would not be granted.
In a four-star review of the first part of jeen-yuhs, NME said: “With footage dating back to 1998, the story of West’s momentous move from Chicago to New York in search of a big record deal is caught on film by Coodie. He grants us access to West’s Newark, New Jersey home and follows the budding star on the streets and into the studios of NYC.”
