It looks like Netflix isn’t parting ways with Kanye West‘s biopic amid his disgusting comments over the last few weeks…
Several brands have distanced themselves from the rapper over his vocal antisemitism, including fashion brand Balenciaga and most recently sportswear empire Adidas. Yeah, even after he boasted they’d never cut ties with him — life truly comes at us fast, doesn’t it?
But the streaming service revealed on Monday they have no plans to remove Ye’s Jeen-Yuhs documentary from their platform. You can see the trailer for the doc (below):
We can all agree there should be no tolerance for the hate and bigotry he’s spreading, but is Netflix in a morally ambiguous area with their decision? Well, maybe…
The company says the reason they’re not removing the three part series is because Ye wasn’t actually involved in creating and promoting the movie — in other words, he was just the subject. Their argument, it would seem, is that asking them to remove the Kanye doc would be like expecting them to remove their content about Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer because they were bad guys. Hmm.
Related: Kim Kardashian Speaks Out Against Hate Speech Amid Kanye’s Antisemitic Behavior
The media giant also points out they don’t remove content about or by people who later cause controversy. They say there’s nothing antisemitic in the movie, so there’s no reason for them to remove it. While that may be true, it’s clearly not how everyone feels. In recent years the music of R. Kelly and Michael Jackson has been removed from radio and streaming platforms despite the songs themselves not being controversial.
But does it make a difference that Ye isn’t going to profit off the product?
Film studio MRC clearly felt differently. They shelved an entire, completely finished documentary after the Jesus Walks performer started spouting so much hate. So why is it Netflix can’t do the same? In their case they’ve at least already made their profit off of it. Then again, maybe that’s part of the answer. MRC was looking at releasing a movie that would likely make less given the current feelings about Ye — versus the option of shelving it and retaining some good will.
Is Netflix just coming up with excuses not to lose content? Or do they really have a good point about their Kanye documentary?
What do U think, Perezcious readers? Should Netflix can Jeen-Yuhs or are they making the right decision by leaving it on their platforms? Sound OFF in the comments (below).
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Netflix/YouTube]