A planned documentary about the life and music of iconoclastic pop pioneer Prince has been canceled. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix reached a mutual agreement with the singer’s estate not to release the series after the estate raised concerns about allegations of emotional and physical abuse against Prince by a former paramour.
In a joint statement shared on social media, Netflix and the Prince estate wrote, “The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive.”
The documentary, which had been in development for six years, was reported “dead in the water” last July after O.J.: Made In America director Ezra Edelman took over for Ava DuVernay following her departure over “creative differences” in 2019 — just a year after the project was first announced. The estate called the documentary “inaccurate” and said it “sensationalized” negative aspects of the artist’s life and career. Furthermore, its initial nine-hour runtime violated prearranged agreements, prompting Netflix to request it to be cut down to six hours.
Last September, the points of contention were illuminated by a New York Times report that Edelman had included multiple interviews from Prince’s ex lovers, former business partners, and other associates which either hinted at or outright accused the star of abuse. Jill Jones, who worked with and dated Prince in the late ’80s and early ’90s, claimed he’d slapped and punched her in the face. Susannah Melvoin, another ex, characterized him as a controlling lover who monitored her phone calls. While Netflix spun the complicated nature of the project by comparing it with the complex aspects of the subject himself, its contractual agreements with the estate meant no progress could be made without approval.
It’s a shame, because the last thing the world needs is another sanitized puff piece that elides the rough edges of a subject. The sort of universal approval those closest to these cultural icons seek is impossible to attain, but providing the full picture might lead to a more complete appreciation of who they were and all that they accomplished.