Kanye West was married to one of the most famous reality television stars, Kim Kardashian, but the rapper himself reportedly isn’t a fan of exposing everything on T.V. He made his first appearance on Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2012 during its seventh season when he’d just begun dating Kim. Kanye made sporadic appearances in the decade that followed, but fans noticed he became more distant from the show towards its end.
Although Kanye has made an appearance on the Kardashian-Jenner family’s spinoff show The Kardashians, as he made his debut last year, fans shouldn’t expect this to be a regular occurrence. And that’s not only because Kanye and Kim finalized their divorce last year.
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Kanye reportedly dislikes appearing on reality television for a very specific reason. But that doesn’t mean fans won’t get to see him hope up in front of the camera, as Ye is working on a new, very specific project. Here’s what we know.
Kanye Doesn’t Like That He Can’t Control His Image On Reality TV
Only a year after Kanye made his reality T.V. debut on KUWTK, a report claimed that he no longer wanted to be associated with the show, as he disliked that he couldn’t control how he was being portrayed in front of cameras.
“Kanye has made it perfectly clear to Kim that he doesn't want to appear at all on Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” a source told Radar Online. “He has made several brief appearances on the Kardashian reality shows, but wants nothing to do with future filming,” they explained.
“Kanye's team believes it's bad for his image and brand to appear on a reality show because it makes him look cheap,” the insider went on. “And, Kim isn't pushing the issue at all as she knows Kanye won't bend on it.”
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Interestingly, the source seemed to foreshadow Kim and Kanye’s eventual break-up, as her previous boyfriend’s reluctance to appear on her family’s show was a source of conflict.
“It's such a departure for Kim because she constantly nagged Reggie Bush when they were dating for him to come on the show,” the source alleged. “He just refused, and it was one of the reasons why they broke up.”
Though Kanye has gone on to do stints on reality shows here and there in the year since, it seems he’ll only agree to it if he has a say. In 2017, for example, Kim admitted she shows Kanye cuts of KUWTK for approval. “I will get it and show him. He knows that I’m really protective of him,” Kim said at the time. “He doesn’t like to film everything. It’s not his show.”
The SKIMS founder added that she also tries to avoid talking about her then-husband. “I won’t really ever talk about something that’s going on with Kanye. ’ll talk about my feelings about whatever is going on. I’m very respectful about how his filming is.”
Kanye Has Gotten Backlash For Appearing On KWUTK
Kanye has also confirmed that he’s concerned about his reputation on reality television. In 2013, he opened up about why he dislikes appearing on KWUTK. The rapper experienced a lot of backlash following an episode where he cleared out Kim’s closet, leading Kanye to reconsider appearing on the show altogether.
"That was from a place of love. It’s hard when people read things in a lot of different ways," he told the New York Times. "You know, the amount of backlash I got from it is when I decided to not be on the show anymore.”
“And it’s not that I have an issue with the show; I just have an issue with the amount of backlash that I get,” Kanye continued. “Because I just see like, an amazing person that I’m in love with that I want to help."
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Kanye Tried Making An HBO Show & Is Now Filming An iPhone Documentary
Kanye’s disdain for reality television doesn’t mean he won’t appear on T.V. altogether. In fact, the rapper has tried creating his own original show before. Recently, footage from a pilot episode of a show Ye pitched to HBO went viral.
He wanted the show to be based on Larry David’s sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Larry David plays a fictional version of yourself. Kanye’s show followed a similar format and used a scripted version of his life. The first episode followed him visiting a fan through Make-A-Wish, only to learn they weren’t sick.
Ultimately, the show wasn’t picked up by HBO, so it never went past the pilot.
However, Kanye is currently working on a project that’s put him back behind the camera. He’s reportedly filming a documentary exclusively in an iPhone in hopes of giving fans an inside look into his life following the wave of controversy he’s faced since last year. So far, few details have been released about the project.
