BBC documentary about Kanye West’s ‘complex journey’ to fame in the works

Alex Green, PA Acting Deputy Entertainment Editor

The BBC has announced a one-off documentary and accompanying podcast series charting how Kanye West went from international fame and critical acclaim to “condemnation and notoriety”.

We Need To Talk About Kanye, the TV special’s working title, will air on BBC Two and be presented by journalist Mobeen Azhar, who fronted the broadcaster’s Battle For Britney documentary.

The rapper, now legally known as Ye and one of the world’s most successful musicians with more than 160 million records sold, has recently come under fire over a series of antisemitic remarks.

The BBC film will be set against the backdrop of his ongoing 2024 presidential election campaign in the US, after an unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2020.

It will follow Azhar as he attempts to “understand the complex journey that led Ye to become one of the most famous and creatively successful artists of his generation, but more recently to condemnation and notoriety”.

The one-off special is being produced by Forest for BBC Music and distributed by Abacus Media Rights, and an air date will be announced in the coming months.

An eight-part podcast series titled The Kanye Story will also accompany the documentary.

Produced by Forest Sounds for BBC Sounds, each episode will features guests offering insight into West’s place in popular culture.

Early last year Netflix aired a three-part series, Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, charting West’s early years in the music industry.

It drew on reels of intimate footage dating back two decades, showing West’s evolution from unknown rapper to international star, fashion designer and businessman.