Kanye West made a surprise last-minute appearance at a Los Angeles screening Friday of the upcoming Netflix docuseries Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.
Ye showed up about 15 minutes into the screening of the first part of the film, sitting on a chair in the front corner of the room, Variety reports.
The rapper’s slightly tardy appearance at the screening likely caught attendees — including Usher, Offset and Roddy Ricch — off-guard as West had previously demanded (and was denied) editing access to the three-part documentary prior to its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
(“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time,” West said at the time. “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.”)
However, directors Coodie and Chike recently told Rolling Stone that West ultimately backed off from his request of editing their decades-in-the-making project; Coodie said West didn’t even mention final cut when he ran into the rapper weeks later in Los Angeles.
Kanye West hugs the directors of the “Jeen-yuhs” documentary after its premiere screening. pic.twitter.com/bQjFkb5CKS
— Variety (@Variety) February 12, 2022
Variety reports that at Friday’s screening, West and the co-directors appeared on good terms, hugging after the screening. West also addressed the audience on a variety of topics ranging from Jeen-Yuhs to Kobe Bryant to his Black Future Month.
“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,” West told the audience of 300 people. “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.”
West also claimed that Apple exec Larry Jackson offered him $100 million to release Donda on their streaming service, “but I never got a meeting with Tim Cook,” West said. “So, it ain’t about the money. It’s about our power and our respect collectively.”
Jeen-Yuhs premieres on Netflix on Jan. 23.