From left, San Francisco 49ers Eli Harold (58), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and Eric Reid (35) kneel through the nationwide anthem earlier than their NFL recreation towards the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Nhat V. Meyer | Tribune Information Service | Getty Photos
Director Spike Lee’s multi-part documentary collection for ESPN Movies about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a nationwide debate when he protested racial injustice almost a decade in the past, won’t be launched, the filmmaker and ESPN mentioned.
“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively determined to now not proceed with this venture because of sure artistic variations,” ESPN mentioned in a press release to Reuters on Saturday.
“Regardless of not reaching finality, we respect all of the arduous work and collaboration that went into this movie.”
Director Spike Lee attends the Los Angeles particular screening of ”Highest 2 Lowest” at Ted Mann Theater at The Academy Museum in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 13, 2025.
Aude Guerrucci | Reuters
Lee informed Reuters on Friday that the collection was not going to be launched.
“It is not popping out. That is all I can say,” Lee mentioned on the purple carpet forward of the Harold and Carole Pump Basis dinner, a fundraiser for most cancers analysis and therapy, in Beverly Hills, California.
Requested why, the Oscar-winning director declined to elaborate, citing a nondisclosure settlement.
“I can not. I signed a nondisclosure. I can not speak about it.”
Kaepernick performed for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. He ignited a nationwide debate in 2016 when he knelt through the U.S. nationwide anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality. The 37-year-old athlete has not performed within the NFL since that season. Many consultants believed his political activism, which triggered a motion that drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, was the important thing motive groups have been cautious of signing him. He later filed a collusion grievance towards staff homeowners, which was settled with the league in 2019.
A consultant for Kaepernick mentioned the participant had no remark in regards to the docuseries on Saturday.
Manufacturing on the collection started in 2022, with Walt Disney-owned ESPN touting it as a “full, first-person account” of Kaepernick’s journey that may function in depth interviews with the participant.
In September, Puck Information reported the venture confronted delays amid disagreements between Kaepernick and Lee over the route of the movie, and that ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro was open to permitting the filmmakers to buy it elsewhere.
