Get the latest gossip

Prince estate blocks release of Netflix documentary by Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman

Nine-hour film will not be seen, after ‘mutual agreement’ between estate and Netflix, with estate announcing plans for its own film

Music producer Charles Spicer, a member of the estate, wrote on X in 2024: “We have a duty to honor and protect his legacy with a story that fairly shows his complexities as well as his greatness. Now the film’s release has been cancelled, the estate has taken a triumphant tone on social media, sharing the same statement as Netflix as well as a new video captioned “The Vault has been freed”, showing footage of Prince alongside two quotes by him: “Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people,” and: “The truth is, you’re either here to enlighten or discourage.” The author of the New York Times article, Sasha Weiss, saw Edelman’s film and called it a “cursed masterpiece”, saying it “shows, more movingly and convincingly than almost anything I’ve seen, how life can illuminate art, and yet how separate the two things really are”.

Get the Android app