Netflix Cancels Controversial Prince Documentary Release

A controversial Prince documentary has officially been shelved. Director Ezra Edelman has been developing the six-hour film over the last four years but the project has now been halted, freeing “the vault” to be used in other ways.

“The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” Netflix said in a statement shared with Variety on Thursday (Feb. 6). “As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.”

The official X account for Prince confirmed the news as well, posting a clip with the caption: “The Vault Has Been Freed #FREE.” The video included a message that read, “Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people. The truth is, you are either here to enlighten or discourage.

Although the highly anticipated release has been in the works for quite some time, the decision to block it may not come as a surprise to many. Reps for the Purple Rain artist’s estate previously shared concerns last summer about “dramatic” factual inaccuracies in the first cut of the film. They also stated sources close to the situation thought certain renderings of events were “sensationalized” on the screen.

Edelman, best known for creating the O.J.: Made in America documentary, was “given extensive access to Prince’s archives, with the first drafts for the deal,” according to Variety. He reportedly delivered nine hours of footage, which was three hours greater than the contracted agreement, so the violation of the agreement “presumably enabled the estate to withhold music rights.”

According to a September 2024 article in the New York Times titled “The Prince We Never Knew,” the doc includes an incident about a fight Prince had with his ex-girlfriend Jill Jones, where she slapped him and he “punched her in the face over and over.” The writer describes the film as a work that evoked “amazement, pity, disgust, tenderness,” as it also included portions about his genius music ability, career-defining moments, him leaving his young wife Mayte Garcia after the couple lost their child, and accounts of his own abusive childhood.