For the past decade, it could be a full-time job keeping up with what Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) said and did. For Nicolas Ballesteros, that was, in fact, his gig: He filmed Ye for over six years, starting in the 2010s, and the result is his vérité documentary “In Whose Name?”
The whirlwind film chronicles a talented, troubled artist who fell from grace after making a series of offensive comments online.
Ballesteros follows Ye through creative meetings and family chats, giving a behind-the-scenes look to public flash points, such as his embrace of Donald Trump and MAGA hats in 2018, and his shocking antisemitic invective in 2022 that led to a falling-out with Adidas as well as many supporters. Ye talks freely about how mental health issues affect his art, reflects on his mother and family, and acidly critiques the role of race in the music business and public sphere.
We’re also watching a billionaire superstar with celebrity fans married to a billionaire reality-show maven, so there’s ample absurdity of the jet-set lifestyle on display. Ye talks candidly with the comedian Chris Rock and the producer Swizz Beatz, finds religion onstage with the televangelist Joel Osteen, gets called out by the comedian Michael Che, meets with the artist James Turrell, and lounges with Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk.
The film, which could definitely focus more on the multiple-Grammy-Award-winner’s music, peters out around 2024, a year before Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler.” But Ballesteros, who started the project when he was 18 years old, does his best to portray a reflexive iconoclast without excusing the inexcusable.
In Whose Name?
Rated R for language and brief sexual material. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters.
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