During the 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, one of the major cultural flashpoints was the debate over San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It was Kaepernick who chose to take a knee during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
The debate over Kaepernick’s actions split directly down political lines, with Trump bashing Kaepernick for kneeling during the anthem. Kaepernick’s reasoning actions were lost in the discussion, and he was shortly blackballed from the NFL, never to play again after the 2016 season.
Kaepernick filed a lawsuit against the NFL in 2016, claiming that the league colluded against him to keep him from playing. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount of money.
In 2022, ESPN commissioned a first-person documentary on Kaepernick directed by Spike Lee, a legendary director and Knicks fan. After nearly two and a half years of work, a report surfaced last year that Kaepernick and Lee had trouble with the film’s direction.
Now, nearly a year after that report of trouble, Disney/ESPN has canceled the film. In the announcement, ESPN said that Kaepernick, Lee, and ESPN have “collectively” decided to no longer move forward with the project due to “creative differences.”
Kaepnerick’s camp did not comment on the project. However, Lee said that the film wasn’t coming and that was “all he could say.” Lee later said he was not allowed to speak about the project after signing a non-disclosure agreement.
While this could be a simple case of creative differences between the two, it could also be another attempt to smooth the way for its deal with the NFL and not further anger Trump. In a 2024 interview, Kaepernick accused Trump of “minimizing” and “targeted” him.
Disney/ESPN’s latest deal with the NFL has multi-billion-dollar implications for both companies; however, the FCC and DOJ are already examining whether it’s legal for the two entities to make this type of deal.
Disney and the NFL will need the government’s cooperation to get this deal through, and bringing up Kaepernick doesn’t help their cause. The NFL probably doesn’t want to rehash this portion of its history either.
Whatever the reasons, the Kaepernick/Lee production will not see the light of day at ESPN. Perhaps another network might swoop in and pick it. Someone with a lot less to lose.
What do you think made Disney/ESPN cancel the Colin Kaepernick documentary? Let us know in the comments.
The post Disney Shelves Colin Kaepernick Documentary: Was It ‘Creative Differences’ or a Larger Political Play? appeared first on Inside the Magic.
