From left, San Francisco 49ers Eli Harold (58), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and Eric Reid (35) kneel throughout the nationwide anthem earlier than their NFL sport in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Nhat V. Meyer | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Director Spike Lee’s multi-part documentary sequence for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a nationwide debate when he protested racial injustice practically a decade in the past, won’t be launched, the filmmaker and ESPN mentioned.
“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,” ESPN mentioned in a press release to Reuters on Saturday.
“Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”
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 sequence was not going to be launched.
“It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say,” Lee mentioned on the pink carpet forward of the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner, a fundraiser for most cancers analysis and remedy, in Beverly Hills, California.
Asked why, the Oscar-winning director declined to elaborate, citing a nondisclosure settlement.
“I can’t. I signed a nondisclosure. I can’t talk about it.”
Kaepernick performed for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. He ignited a nationwide debate in 2016 when he knelt throughout 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 in opposition to staff homeowners, which was settled with the league in 2019.
A consultant for Kaepernick mentioned the participant had no remark concerning the docuseries on Saturday.
Production on the sequence started in 2022, with Walt Disney-owned ESPN touting it as a “full, first-person account” of Kaepernick’s journey that will characteristic intensive interviews with the participant.
In September, Puck News reported the venture confronted delays amid disagreements between Kaepernick and Lee over the course of the movie, and that ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro was open to permitting the filmmakers to buy it elsewhere.