In 2008, when he was still searching for something that rhymes with “Alec Baldwin,” Kanye West filmed a pilot for HBO. Writer Larry Charles, who dresses down as Rick Rubin for Hollywood and occasionally directs movies like Borat and wrote for something called Seinfeld, explained to Coming Soon that it was Ye’s version of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Charles also writes for. “It was really good,” he said, back in 2008, “but I think it was too hardcore for HBO. Also…HBO doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to black shows, and I felt like that may have had something to do with it also.” This was before The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency changed the TV landscape.
Anyway, the show never made it to air, but footage has leaked online, in the form of an acting reel uploaded by actress Alison Quinn. It’s been on YouTube since 2008, but has only recently gone viral, thanks in no small part to Jay-Z Google’ing then tweeting “how come kanye gets to act in anchorman 2 and i don’t,” probably.
In the original draft, all of the characters were named Kanye and everyone wore a Kanye mask. It was like the screaming “Malkovich” scene from Being John Malkovich, except with more references to croissants.
(Via CoS)