Kaepernick reportedly wanted the docuseries to focus more on his career, while Lee wanted the story to cover cultural issues including social justice and police brutality.
An ESPN docuseries on quarterback Colin Kaepernick that was being produced by acclaimed director Spike Lee and Jemele Hill is no longer moving forward.
The six-time Academy Award nominee revealed to Reuters during a red carpet entrance at a fundraising dinner for the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner on Friday that the multi-part documentary will not be released.
"I can't. I signed a nondisclosure," he said. "I can't talk about it."
Asked why the series — tentatively titled "Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick" — won't be seen, Lee cited a nondisclosure agreement in talking about the development.
"I can't. I signed a nondisclosure," he added. "I can't talk about it."
ESPN issued a statement to Reuters on Saturday in response to an inquiry about the docuseries' status.
"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 said. "Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film."
Kaepernick played in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons from 2011-16. He quarterbacked the 49ers to the 2013 NFC championship game, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.
However, he is most known for protesting the U.S. national anthem before games by taking a knee as a gesture to protest systemic racism in the culture and police brutality.
That made him a nationally controversial figure, drawing criticism from many including President Donald Trump, and presumably led to no NFL teams signing him after he became a free agent. He never played in the NFL again after the 2016 season.
Last September, Puck's Matthew Belloni reported that creative differences between Kaepernick and Lee stalled the docuseries' development. Kaepernick preferred for the series to focus more on his career and personal experience. Yet Lee wanted the scope of the project to cover wider cultural issues, including the history of Black athletes in professional sports, social justice and police brutality.
Though the series was reportedly completed, Kaepernick held ultimate approval over the project and wanted material added to Lee's final cut.
The project stalling over creative differences between Kaepernick and Lee was confirmed to The Athletic, though specifics beyond what Belloni originally reported were not provided. Yet as Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand point out, ESPN's relationship with the NFL is different now than when the project was initially being developed in 2022.
In an agreement worth billions of dollars, ESPN will acquire NFL RedZone and other NFL Media properies with the NFL taking a 10% equity stake in the network. A docuseries that potentially casts the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's 32 teams in a bad light likely wouldn't be viewed favorably under those circumstances. Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against NFL team owners with teammate Eric Reid. That lawsuit was eventually settled in 2019.
The Kaepernick docuseries is reportedly finished or close enough to where it could air on another network or streaming platform. According to Belloni's report, Kaepernick and Lee largely worked out their differences. Yet based on the finality of Lee's remarks to Reuters, it appears that the project will not be shopped around to other outlets.
Category: General Sports
