Kanye West’s Larry David-Inspired HBO Pilot Leaks Online
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Fans of Kanye West (who now goes by Ye) who have longed to see the troubled rapper’s failed turn as a television creator can now watch the pilot for his canned HBO project on YouTube. (Maybe not for long, though.)
On Sunday, a YouTube user named Gearashi leaked the pilot for Ye’s Larry David-inspired comedy show, titled A Little Inappropriate. According to Vibe, the video was ripped from Borat director Larry Charles’ private Vimeo account. The roughly 30-minute episode has already made its way to several other channels.
Among the Yeezy founder’s extensive list of axed projects, there’s been a considerable air of mystery around A Little Inappropriate, which was supposedly inspired by Ye’s love for HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as his appearance on Entourage in 2007.
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Ye shot the pilot in the same year with an eclectic cast, including Curb’s J.B. Smoove and Jeff Garlin, stand-up comedian Wyatt Cenac, actress Kym Whitley, his onetime manager Don C, and rapper GLC. In the show, Ye plays himself as he navigates a comically unhinged version of his rap-star life, surrounded by his team, family members, and girlfriend. The untitled pilot sees Ye partaking in a chaotic CD signing and later meeting a child through the Make-A-Wish Foundation who he later discovers isn’t actually ill.
Over the years, several theories have been posited about why the show was never picked up. HBO executives allegedly thought it was too focused on the supporting characters rather than the hip-hop star at its center, who essentially plays a “straight man.” Charles, who directed the pilot, also noted the cable network’s lack of diversity at the time. In a 2019 profile for The Daily Beast, he hypothesized that “there would be no Kardashians” if the show aired “because they would have been characters on the Kanye show rather than him being a supporting character on the Kardashians.”
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Cenac, who played Ye’s cousin on the show, told Vulture back in 2013 that they originally submitted an hour-long pilot when HBO had only requested a half-hour episode. In the same interview, Cenac said that he and Uprights Citizens Brigade co-founder Matt Besser would visit Ye’s apartment to train him in improv comedy. He says that West “knew he wasn’t a good improviser,” which maybe explains why he passed off the show’s funnier moments to other cast members.
Speaking of Cenac, this isn’t the first time Ye’s pilot has surfaced on the internet. In 2013, the comedian surprised guests at his weekly stand-up show with a screening of the full episode. Recordings from the comedy show briefly spread online before being removed.
Given that Ye has been less online these days due to several controversies that got him temporarily banned from Twitter, his fans may now have a longer window to check out his fizzled HBO dreams.
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