The director behind Netflix's long-awaited Prince documentary has addressed his frustrations behind its cancellation.
Ezra Edelman, who is known for his work on the O.J.: Made In America film, recently spoke out about the controversial decision to axe the doc during an appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.
"It’s a joke," he says. "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.”
The scrapping of the nine-part docuseries was announced last month by Netflix following four years of work, after reaching a “mutual agreement” with the late musician's estate. Instead, the two camps agreed to work on a different project, and “develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive”.
According to Variety, Prince's representatives believed that Edelman's documentary contained “dramatic” factual inaccuracies and “sensationalised” depictions of various moments from the star's life.
During the recent podcast interview, Edelman explains how he was sent a list of amendments by Prince's estate which were at conflict with his intentions for the project. He reflects, "You think I have any interest in putting out a film that is factually inaccurate?”.
Explaining how he had wanted to provide a more authentic depiction of Prince rather than focus solely on his musical career, Edelman continues, "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.”
There is currently no information on the status of Netflix's replacement project.
Watch the podcast episode below:
