Kanye’s Rejected TV Pilot Leaks Online

Author Autumn Hawkins

June 20th, 2023 2:16 PM

While Kanye has dabbled in almost every aspect of entertainment, his dream of creating content for television never came to fruition. According to reports from Far Out Magazine, Kanye pitched a scripted television show back in 2007 that never aired. The television show was rumored to be titled A Little Inappropriate, which is fitting for the controversial artist. The canceled pilot leaked online recently. It appears to be influenced by Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Ye is known to be a fan of.

Curb director Larry Charles teamed up with the rapper after hearing the show was an inspiration. The pilot finds Ye visiting a sick fan from the Make-A-Wish foundation only to find out that the fan was faking his illness.

Don C, GLC, Curb stars Jeff Garlin and JB Smoove, and Wyatt Cenac joined Ye in the pilot. “Kanye knew he wasn’t a good improviser,” Cenac told Vulture back in 2013. “He’d read something that Seinfeld said about surrounding himself with better talent and that he would rise to the occasion. And so that was his hope.”

However, Cenac still tried to help the rapper with his improv skills: “It was me, Kanye, and [his road manager] Don all doing improv together with no audience, no feedback, and they never wanted to get off the couch. So imagine Whose Line Is It Anyway? but, like, in a car.”

According to reports, per HotNewHipHop, the Yeezy founder had already filmed interviews for the first season. These interviews included Nelson George, Professor Boyce Watkins, and Cornel West. Still, HBO decided to pass. “HBO was like, ‘We didn’t pay for a show with these no-name motherf–ers. Find a way to put some Kanye in this,'” Cenac claimed.

However, Kanye did supposedly tried to get a big Hollywood name for the pilot, but it never panned out. “Kanye had been trying to get Tom Cruise to be in the pilot,” Cenac said. “And he had asked him because they were friendly. And we’re shooting a scene [in the Escalade], and at one point Kanye’s like, ‘Shut the f— up, it’s Tom Cruise’ and because he couldn’t get out of the car, he had to take the phone call smashed between people … and you can hear Tom Cruise laughing [does a Tom Cruise laugh] as Kanye goes, ‘Yeah, man, I’ve been working on the improv stuff, you know, all your suggestions were great.’ [Does another Tom Cruise laugh.] That went on for like fifteen minutes. Tom Cruise never did the show, and we had to hire a Tom Cruise look-alike that was like five feet taller than Cruise.”

You can take a look at the pilot episode here.

Kanye West: 15 Songs You (Might) Have Not Known He Produced

• 1. Foxy Brown, "My Life" (1999)

  Ye produced Foxy Brown’s “My Life” which was released in 1999. The song was featured as part of the soundtrack in the 2003 hit film “Cradle 2 The Grave” starring the late DMX, Jet Li, Gabrielle Union, Anthony Anderson, and Paige Hurd.

• 2. Lil' Kim, "Don't Mess with Me" (2000)

  Lil’ Kim’s “Don’t Mess with Me” was released in 2000 from the rapper’s second studio album The Notorious K.I.M. Ye is also credited as a co-writer along with Kimberly Denise Jones (Lil’ Kim), Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade.

• 3. Mos Def feat. Faith Evans, "Brown Sugar (Fine)" (2002)

  “Brown Sugar (Fine)” is from the soundtrack of the film Brown Sugar. Mos Def plays Chris “Cavi” Vichon, a cab driver and underground rapper, and he performs the song in the film and tags Faith Evans’ angelic vocals later on the soundtrack. The song contains a sample of Norman Connor’s “Invitation” (1979).

• 4. Monica, "Knock Knock" (2003)

  Monica released “Knock Knock” in 2003 on her fourth studio album ‘Before The Storm.’ The record peaked at No.75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 24 on Billboard’s R&B chart.”Knock Knock” samples The Masqueraders’ 1976 song “It’s a Terrible Thing to Waste Your Love.”

• 5. Common – "Go!" (2005)

  “Go!” is the third single from Common’s 2005 album Be. Ye provides background vocals alongside John Mayer. Be was nominated for “Best Rap Album” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 6. Alicia Keys, "You Don't Know My Name" (2003)

  “You Don’t Know My Name” is the lead single of Alicia’s second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys , which was released in 2003. The song won a Grammy for “Best R&B Song” at the 47th Annual Grammys where the singer also picked up “Best R&B Album,” for The Diary Of Alicia Keys , “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” for “If Ain’t Got You,” and “Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals” for “My Boo” featuring Usher.

• 7. Twista, "Overnight Celebrity" (2004)

  “Overnight Celebrity” is the second single from Twista’s 2004 album Kamikaze. The song has uncredited vocals by West and violin by Miri Ben-Ari. The track samples Lenny Williams’ 1978 song “Cause I Love You.” The song received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 8. Mariah Carey, "Stay The Night" (2005)

  “Stay The Night” is from Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi, the singer’s 10th studio album, which was released in 2005.

• 9. Alicia Keys, "Unbreakable" (2005)

  Alicia Keys and Ye teamed up again on the singer’s “Unbreakable” which was released in 2005. The track was originally supposed to be a part of the R&B icon’s second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys but it ultimately did not make the cut.
  “The song was always one of my favorites, but I did not think it would fit well into my second album,” the singer said per Genius. The record draws from Eddie Kendrick’s 1977 “Intimate Friends.” “Unbreakable” was nominated for “Best R&B Song” and “Best Female Vocal R&B Vocal Performance” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 10. Lil Wayne, "Did It Before" (2007)

  “Did It Before” is from Lil Wayne’s The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions. The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions is an unofficial compilation of Lil Wayne songs that was released in 2007.

• 11. Drake, "Show Me A Good Time" (2010)

  “Show Me A Good Time” is from Drake’s 2010 album Thank Me Later. Not only did Ye produce this song but he also has a co-writing credit along with Drake, No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Ye also produced Drizzy’s “Find Your Love” which is also on the album. Thank Me Later was nominated for “Best Rap Album” at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

• 12. Justin Bieber, "Runaway Love" Remix (2011)

  The original “Runaway Love” is found on Justin Bieber’s 2010 album My World 2.0. Bieber and Ye’s collab came after Kanye tweeted his admiration of the song. He then added Wu-Tang’s Raekwon onto the project for the remix. The remix samples the beat from Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 hit “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F— Wit.”

• 13. Beyoncé, "Party" ft. André 3000 (2011)

  “Party” is from Beyoncé’s fourth studio album 4 and includes a guest appearance from André 3000. Ye also contributes background vocals to the track along with Consequence.

• 14. John Legend, "Let's Get Lifted" (2011)

  “Let’s Get Lifted” is from John Legend’s debut studio album Get Lifted. Ye who was Legend’s manager at the time, executive produced this album including “Let’s Get Lifted.” Get Lifted won “Best R&B Album”, and earned Legend another two awards, for “Best New Artist” and “Best Male R&B Vocal Performance” for his single “Ordinary People” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 15. Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow, "Industry Baby" (2021)

  “Industry Baby” appears on Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero which was released in 2021. The song features a guest appearance from rapper Jack Harlow. The song debuted at No. 2 in August of 2021 then went to No.1 on the chart on the week of October 23, 2021. The track became Lil Nas X’s third No. 1 song and Harlow’s first. The song received a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

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Author Autumn Hawkins

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• Dave and Chuck the Freak
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Kanye West