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The news that Spike Lee‘s ESPN documentary about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is being scrapped may have only broken yesterday, but to Lee, it’s old hat.
“That thing fell apart a year ago,” Lee, 68, told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday while promoting his latest movie, “Highest 2 Lowest.” “No one had ever asked me about it. I was on a red carpet and a guy asked me the question, I wasn’t going to lie.”
On Friday, Reuters asked the Oscar-winning director about the docuseries, to which Lee responded, “It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say.”
ESPN confirmed the news in a statement, which it also provided to Business Insider for this story.
“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,” the statement read. “Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”
Associated Press
Lee also told Business Insider that he has no plans to try to sell the project to another network or streaming service.
“No, it’s unfortunate, but I mean, I’ve moved on,” Lee said. “That was a year ago.”
Business Insider reached out to Kaepernick for comment but didn’t get an immediate response.
The docuseries was first announced in 2020, and Lee became attached to the project in 2022. It was touted as delivering an extensive look at the former QB through never-before-seen archival footage and new interviews.
Kaepernick, 37, who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016, was at the center of a media firestorm when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism.
In 2017, he opted out of his contract with the 49ers and was never signed by another team, essentially ending his NFL career. In 2019, he privately settled his grievance against the NFL for collusion among the team owners.
The post Spike Lee says he won’t shop around his scrapped ESPN Colin Kaepernick doc: ‘That thing fell apart a year ago’ appeared first on Business Insider.
