For the past few years, there are sadly many Kanye West controversies to discuss, and many of them will appear in the upcoming documentary In Whose Name? It comes out in select theaters next week (Friday, September 19), and its raw engagement with these issues is something that its director firmly stands by.
Nico Ballesteros began filming Ye as a teenager. Now that he's 26, he's excited to share his vision with the world and present his character portrait of the Chicago artist. During a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Ballesteros reportedly defended his inclusion of Kanye's antisemitic remarks, explaining that his mission to present an unfiltered image does not equate to philosophical agreement.
"I didn't make this to tell a story of descent or unraveling, I made it to tell a beautiful, deep story of an American figure," Nico Ballesteros reportedly remarked concerning the Kanye West documentary. "I don't support antisemitism, obviously, or hate speech. He and I don't share the same views…. We're human. That’s really where I'm at. He's a person. He's a human."
"I can literally say antisemitic s**t and Adidas can’t drop me," Ye reportedly remarked at one point of In Whose Name? Of course, that didn't end up being the case.
Dave Blunts & Kanye West Fallout
Elsewhere, other early Kanye West In Whose Name? teases include a bizarre scene of him welcoming Elon Musk to what seems to be his Donda 2 listening party. In the clip, they end up talking about their turbulent relationships: Ye's divorce from Kim Kardashian and Musk's rocky partnership with Grimes.
We will see very soon just how deep In Whose Name? goes into these and other controversies, and whether or not its framing casts judgement. That does not seem to be Nico Ballesteros' intention at all.
Meanwhile, Kanye West is losing collaborators, as his recent writing partner Dave Blunts recently revealed he cut off their working relationship. Whether or not this impacts his upcoming albums is a mystery, mostly because their status on their own is already up in the air. Perhaps now's the time for reflection rather than any revamp.
