It’s a been a long wait for the premiere of Spike Lee’s documentary about former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s refusal to tone down his activism eventually led to his being blackballed by the NFL (though they still deny that to this day), and he eventually reached an out-of-court settlement with the league while still expressing a desire to get another chance. That doesn’t seem likely, but there’s been plenty of anticipation the past couple of years to see what Lee’s documentary would reveal.
But now reports are circulating that the documentary titled “Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick” might be headed elsewhere than its originally proposed ESPN home. The website Puck was the first to report that ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro still wanted to air what has been labeled “a pricey seven-episode docuseries,” but he wanted to wait for at least another year. The article claims that upcoming documentaries on Brittney Griner and the New York Jets’ ‘Sack Exchange’ defense of the 1980s were seen as higher priority on the ESPN agenda.
The story added that Pitaro allegedly said if Kaepernick, Lee and producer (and former ESPN anchor) Jemele Hill want the documentary to air sooner, they can try to place the documentary elsewhere. The disappointing thing about this story, if true, is that it is one more obstacle for a project that has already been delayed multiple times due to Lee’s directing schedule and reportedly “heated disagreements between Kaepernick and the Oscar-winning filmmaker over the direction of the project.” Some of those disagreements include Lee wanting to expand the scope of the documentary beyond Kaepernick’s issues with the NFL by including “incendiary critiques of conservative politicians” including Donald Trump, who famously chastised NFL players for taking a knee in protest of racial injustice. Kaepernick, on the other hand, reportedly wants the documentary to be more about his personal story, evidenced by how he has approval rights over the film and the right to ask for other elements to be added after the final cut.
Whether this will ever be completed and released is now up in the air.
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