Prince documentary director speaks out on Netflix cancellation: “It’s a joke”
The director of the axed Prince documentary has said it is a “joke” that Netflix chose to cancel the project.
Last month, the streaming giant announced that a long-awaited nine-part series exploring the life and career of the music icon had been abandoned, in favour of a new “mutual agreement” with the Prince estate. Instead, the new deal would allow Netflix to “develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive”.
The director of the cancelled project, Ezra Edelman, who is best known for his work on the O.J.: Made In America documentary, has spoken out for the first time about the decision to shelve the series.
During an appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, he said: “It’s a joke… I can’t get past this – the short-sightedness of a group of people whose interest is their own bottom line. They’re afraid of his humanity.”
Edelman explained that he had been sent a list of editorial changes Prince’s representatives, which hampered his ability to tell the story as he wished. “You think I have any interest in putting out a film that is factually inaccurate?” he said.
Addressing how he intended to balance his creative genius with personal insight, he added: “Everything about who you believe he is, is in this movie. You get to bathe in his genius. And yet you have to confront his humanity. People had issues with how he treated people – he was emotionally abusive, he was physically abusive.”
See clips from the podcast below.
Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman speaks for the first time about Netflix and Prince's estate mutually agreeing to not release his documentary.
"It's a joke. … I can't get past this — the short-sightedness of a group of people whose interest is their own bottom line. They're… pic.twitter.com/Q8xsIsuRsY
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) March 4, 2025
"There's multiple people who told me that, based on Prince's brain, he basically almost felt that he was being punished for his sins. People had issues with how he treated people — he was emotionally abusive, he was physically abusive."
Director Ezra Edelman explains the complex… pic.twitter.com/6ypTAX1AL1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) March 4, 2025
Edelman had been working on the project for the past four years, after replacing Ava DuVernay, and he had been given extensive access to Prince’s archives.
In July last year, however, it was reported that Edelman’s work had been blocked and was “dead in the water” after multiple disputes with Prince’s estate. The late artist’s team claimed a first cut of the Netflix film was filled with “dramatic” factual inaccuracies and “sensationalised” renderings of certain events from his life, according to Variety.
The deal for the documentary also called for a six-hour series but Edelman reportedly delivered nine hours, which was said to be a violation of the agreement.
Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016, and as he had no will, his six heirs were left to inherit equal parts in his estate. It sparked a long legal battle over how the estate would be managed going forward.
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Max Pilley
NME
