Kanye West's absence on Keeping Up With The Kardashian has hardly gone unnoticed — there's a whole Saturday Night Live sketch about it! Despite his marriage to Kim Kardashian, a staple of the series, West's appearances on the show have previously been relegated to brief episode arcs or slight moments of comic relief. During the season 16 premiere, however, he sat down in front of the camera for the first time.
"This interview is because of the movie The Incredibles," Kanye says in the beginning of the episode, explaining his decision to participate in a confessional with Kim. "It starts off with the interviews. The superheroes are giving interviews. The wife got a big butt and I just see our life becoming more and more like The Incredibles until we can finally fly."
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Much of the episode is dedicated to the feud between Kanye, Kim, and Rhymefest, a pop culture moment from last May that you probably forgot about. That's what makes West's plotline all the more savvy. Whatever really happened (Rhymefest accused West of neglecting Donda's House, a charity named after West's mother, prompting Kim to launch a Twitter war), it's Kanye and Kim who get the last word. In the episode, Kim instead says Kanye's close friend is bullying the rapper, and that's how most fans will now remember it...regardless of the facts.
This is just one instance, and one episode, but let's remember that Kanye had a controversial year, to say the least. This past fall is when the rapper went full MAGA, meeting with President Trump and publicly declaring his support — before walking it back in late October. Public opinion of Kanye soured fast, but his participation in the E! show will allow him to somewhat rewrite that narrative.
After all, we know Kanye already has significant influence on KUWTK. Adam Stotsky, the president of E!, told the New York Times that Kanye is responsible for the show's brand new look this season, with differently-lit confessionals and a new, glossy intro.
“He’s a real creative force, clearly, and had thoughts on marketing, thoughts on presentation of the show, on the opening title sequence,” Stotsky said. Notably, the opening kicks off with footage from Kim and Kanye's famous "Sunday Services," suggesting that we'll at some point get a closer look at this weekly elite gathering of celebs.
Regardless of reality, however Keeping Up With The Kardashians presents these moments will be how most fans remember them, wiping Kanye's slate clean (or at the very least, pushing some things off to the side). And, thanks to Kanye, it will all be presented in a new (and trendy) light.