Spike Lee’s Colin Kaepernick Documentary Canceled at ESPN

Well, that’s a wrap on the Colin Kaepernick documentary.

The multipart series, directed and produced by Spike Lee, will not be moving forward at ESPN due to “creative differences”, The Athletic confirmed.

“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,” an ESPN spokesperson told the publication. “Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”

On the red carpet for a fundraiser event, Spike first told Reuters the documentary wasn’t going to be released but didn’t give details about why.

“It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say,” he said while shaking his head. Spike confirmed it wouldn’t just not be released on ESPN, but that it was dead completely.

“It’s not coming out period,” he said, saying he signed a non-disclosure agreement and can’t talk about it.

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Spike Lee 🎥 HONORING 🙌🏿❤️🙌🏿 Colin Kaepernick at The Gordan Parks Foundation Awards Dinner And Auction #fyp #justice #standup #colinkaepernick #spikelee #fashion #film #music #sports #nfl #nflfootball #nevergiveup #justiceforall #foryoupage
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The series was announced back in 2022 and was set to have Kaepernick giving a first-person account of story—from growing up with white adoptive parents despite being mixed race, his high school football career, and his eventual blackballing from the NFL after protesting the national anthem and police brutality.

Puck’s Matt Belloni reported on creative differences between Spike and ESPN last year, writing that there wasn’t much agreement about what the balance should look like in telling Kaep’s story and the wider story of Black athletes and their activism.

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