Spike Lee is sharing more on why his Colin Kaepernick documentary series for ESPN Films never made it to the finish line.
Last week the director revealed the project had been shelved in a red carpet interview with Reuters.
He shared more details during an appearance on the Tuesday, Aug. 19 episode of The Don Lemon Show podcast.
Related: Howard Stern Vents Black Players Ignore Him at Knicks Games But ‘Go Over to Spike Lee’
Lemon, who has a small role in Lee’s new film Highest 2 Lowest, asked about the Kaepernick series toward the end of their conversation.
“Actually, it fell apart a year ago and it was just three different views of how it should be done,” Lee said.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker did not give specifics on which three “views” were at odds.
But the sports network said last week, “ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences.”
Lee, Kaepernick, and sports journalist Jemele Hill were producers on the series, and ESPN served as executive producer.
The director said he stayed quiet about the project unraveling because no one asked him until a Reuters reporter brought it up at the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner for cancer research in Beverly Hills.
“I just said that I signed the disclaimers, I really can’t talk about it. And it’s not going to happen, but it happened a year ago,” he told Lemon, adding that he has to be careful because of a nondisclosure agreement.
When asked if the series could still move forward at some point in the future, Lee shut Lemon down.
“Nothing,” the director replied. Then he joked, “If I could predict the future, the Knicks long ago would have won an NBA championship.”
“Don, you know, I’m not getting sued. So really, there’s nothing more I can say. But look, I’m not mad at you asking me that question,” he added.
Although Lee did admit he was disappointed by what happened.
“It’s unfortunate, but that’s not the first thing that’s happened to me in this industry and I just keep moving to the next thing,” he said.
The series was part of Kaepernick’s first-look deal with the Walt Disney Company.
Production was first announced in February 2022. At the time, Kaepernick said one of his goals was to “elevate Black and Brown directors.”
The series was expected to feature never-before-seen footage from the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s personal archive, offering a first-person account of his career and activism.
In September 2024, Puck News reported that Lee and Kaepernick were clashing over creative control, and called the series “pricey,” noting that ESPN executives were open to Kaepernick shopping it elsewhere.
Lee has since shifted his focus to his latest film. Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright and A$AP Rocky, which was released in theaters Friday and arrives on Apple TV Sept. 5.
You can watch the full Spike Lee interview here. He discusses the docuseries with Don Lemon at the 16-minute mark.
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