Spike Lee's Colin Kaepernick Documentary Is No More

ESPN and Spike Lee have hit the brakes on a much-anticipated docuseries about Colin Kaepernick, the ex-NFL quarterback whose sideline protests against racial injustice launched a national conversation in 2016. ESPN, Lee, and Kaepernick jointly decided to shelve the project, citing "creative differences," according to the sports network. ESPN's statement thanked everyone for their effort but offered little else in the way of explanation, Reuters reports.

On the red carpet at a Beverly Hills charity event, Lee confirmed the series was dead in the water but declined to share details, pointing to a nondisclosure agreement. Kaepernick, through a representative, also opted out of commenting. Kaepernick, who last played for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, has been out of the NFL since his protests—kneeling during the national anthem to highlight systemic racism and police brutality—sparked both support and sharp criticism, including from President Trump. Many believe his activism factored heavily into his absence from the league. He settled a collusion grievance with NFL owners in 2019.

The shelved docuseries, first announced in 2022 and billed as a "full, first-person account" of Kaepernick's story, was set to lean heavily on in-depth interviews with Kaepernick. Reports last fall suggested the project was already facing delays, with creative disputes between Lee and Kaepernick. ESPN's top brass was said to be open to letting the filmmakers shop it to other networks.

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Veteran NFL writer Mike Florio weighed in on the situation on his Pro Football Talk column, noting that while some believe it was the NFL that put a stop to the documentary, Florio's own sense is that "the project was destined to die" even "without the NFL on deck to own a piece of ESPN." (The league is in the process of acquiring 10% of the network.) "But the NFL-ESPN relationship will make reasonable people believe the seeds for the scrapping of the show were planted the moment it appeared the NFL would end up owning part of ESPN," Florio writes.