BBC to explore life of Kanye West in documentary & podcast

Kanye West

UK pubcaster the BBC has ordered a documentary and accompanying eight-part podcast about the life of US music star Kanye West.

We Need to Talk about Kanye (working title) will air on BBC Two and will be fronted by investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar, who also explored Britney Spears’ conservatorship for the BBC in its doc The Battle for Britney.

Set against the backdrop of West’s 2024 election campaign, and at a time when his behaviour has sparked outrage and a re-evaluation of his place in popular culture, the one-off documentary follows Azhar as he attempts to understand the complex journey that led West to become one of the most famous and creatively successful artists of his generation. But more recently, to condemnation and notoriety.

The film is produced by UK indie Forest and is distributed by Abacus Media Rights. Executive producers are Catey Sexton and Jez Lee, the Producer is Laura Kaye, and the producer/director is Stefan Mattison.

It will be accompanied by podcast series The Kanye Story, produced by Forest Sounds, with each episode inviting new guests, who bring insight into West’s life and dig deeper into his place in culture.