Controversial Prince Netflix Documentary Will Not Be Released, Estate Is Free to Create New Project
Netflix has canceled the release of what was supposed to be a six-part Prince documentary directed by Ezra Edelman.
'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,' Netflix said in a statement shared with Variety on Thursday. 'As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.'
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Upon making this news public, Prince's estate published a video on X touting 'the vault has been freed,' and including the hashtag 'Free.'
Representatives for the late artist's estate previously claimed a first cut of the film was filled with 'dramatic' factual inaccuracies and 'sensationalized' renderings of certain events from his life, according to sources close to the situation.
Edelman, best known for creating the 'O.J.: Made in America' documentary, had been quietly working on the film for over four years. Edelman, who was enlisted to replace original director Ava DuVernay, was given extensive access to Prince's archives.
The first drafts for the deal — made between Netflix and representatives of Comerica Bank, the interim executor for Prince's estate — called for a six-hour series, though Edelman reportedly delivered nine hours of footage, a violation of the agreement that presumably enabled the estate to withhold music rights.
According to a September report from The New York Times, the documentary featured Prince's ex-girlfriends accusing him of physical and emotional abuse. The film touched on Prince's journey — both on his artistry and his personal relationships — with accounts of his own abusive childhood and the abandonment of his young wife Mayte Garcia after the couple lost their child, the Times reported.
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