Director of canceled Prince doc blasts “short-sighted” decision by Netflix and artist’s estate

In 2019, Netflix teamed up with Ezra Edelman, director of the Oscar-winning documentary O.J: Made In America, for a new nine-hour doc about Prince. With a promise of uninhibited access to Prince's vault, Edelman worked on the film for nearly five years, and by some accounts it is a masterpiece: Wesley Morris, a New York Times critic and one of the few to have seen the 520-minute film, called it "one of the only works I have ever seen that approximates the experience of suffering with and suffering through and alongside genius.”

However, due to changes in leadership at both Netflix and Prince's estate, the film faced a rocky production. The film reportedly contained interviews with former romantic partners of Prince who had accused him of physical and emotional abuse, and in 2022, L. Londell McMillan, head of Prince's estate, barred Edelman from the artist's vault.

Requests for significant alterations to the film were not agreed to by Edelman, who had final cut on the film; McMillan reportedly told Edelman that releasing his version of the film would cause "generational harm" to Prince's image that could lead to him being "canceled," according to the Times. In February 2025, Prince's estate and Netflix officially announced the documentary's shelving, and the production of a new film made by the estate.

This week, Edelman spoke about his experiences for an episode of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out. When asked to respond to the estate's criticisms that film contained "inaccuracies" and "sensationalized" aspects of Prince's life, Edelman said: "It's a joke... You think I have any interest in putting out a film that's factually inaccurate? ... I can't get past this — the short-sightedness of a group of people whose interest is their own bottom line. They're afraid of his humanity."

Edelman rejected the idea that the film would do anything other than boost Prince's legacy. "Everything about who you believe he is is in this movie. You get to bathe in his genius. And yet, you also have to confront his humanity."

The FADER has reached out to Netflix and Prince's estate for more information.