Sasha Weiss

It changes from being overseen by a bank and courts in Minnesota to now being overseen by a lawyer who used to work for Prince in the 90s, members of his family, and a music company. And the new people in charge watch the film. And they submit this list that's 17 pages long with all kinds of quibbles and queries and objections. almost none of which have to do with facts.

They have to do with things about Prince that they don't want included in this documentary. And Edelman, you know, makes a few changes to try to kind of compromise with them, but he's not going to change, for instance, one of Prince's collaborators talking about how when he became devout and extremely religious, he asked her to renounce her homosexuality before he would collaborate with her again.

They have to do with things about Prince that they don't want included in this documentary. And Edelman, you know, makes a few changes to try to kind of compromise with them, but he's not going to change, for instance, one of Prince's collaborators talking about how when he became devout and extremely religious, he asked her to renounce her homosexuality before he would collaborate with her again.

He's not going to take out an assessment of his album, The Rainbow Children, which was kind of widely shared at the time that there were anti-Semitic lyrics. He's not going to take out elements of the story that are sad or unfortunate or portray Prince in a negative light because they're part of the story and they're part of the arc.

He's not going to take out an assessment of his album, The Rainbow Children, which was kind of widely shared at the time that there were anti-Semitic lyrics. He's not going to take out elements of the story that are sad or unfortunate or portray Prince in a negative light because they're part of the story and they're part of the arc.

And he's not going to allow extra journalistic facts to determine the shape of his film. So this back and forth continues for many months, and the estate manages to hold up the film on questions of length. They claim that they had agreed to license music for a six-hour film and no more. And this was no simple thing.

And he's not going to allow extra journalistic facts to determine the shape of his film. So this back and forth continues for many months, and the estate manages to hold up the film on questions of length. They claim that they had agreed to license music for a six-hour film and no more. And this was no simple thing.

Like, to cut this film by three hours would be... Like, the metaphor that I keep thinking of is like... unknotting a hand-woven Persian carpet. Extremely difficult to disassemble. It would be like starting all over. But also, it wasn't ever clear that this would satisfy the estate anyway, because they had made their strong objections to the project very clear.

Like, to cut this film by three hours would be... Like, the metaphor that I keep thinking of is like... unknotting a hand-woven Persian carpet. Extremely difficult to disassemble. It would be like starting all over. But also, it wasn't ever clear that this would satisfy the estate anyway, because they had made their strong objections to the project very clear.

So the project seemed to be at an impasse. And ultimately, last month, Netflix comes out with the following statement. 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. Translation, Ezra Edelman's film is dead. He's cut out. It's thrown away.

So the project seemed to be at an impasse. And ultimately, last month, Netflix comes out with the following statement. 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. Translation, Ezra Edelman's film is dead. He's cut out. It's thrown away.

And if there's ever going to be a film, it's going to be a film made by the estate.

And if there's ever going to be a film, it's going to be a film made by the estate.

Well, all of the parties have been tight-lipped about the situation for contractual reasons, but that's my sense of it. Yeah. So the day after this news came out, I was able to talk to Ezra. Well, it's kind of a grim day.

Well, all of the parties have been tight-lipped about the situation for contractual reasons, but that's my sense of it. Yeah. So the day after this news came out, I was able to talk to Ezra. Well, it's kind of a grim day.

And he was devastated.

And he was devastated.

And, you know, we were talking a little bit about the state's rationale or what we perceive as the state's rationale. And he thinks it's absurd.

And, you know, we were talking a little bit about the state's rationale or what we perceive as the state's rationale. And he thinks it's absurd.

The lawyer for the estate said to Ezra at one point in this process, he fears the film will do generational harm to Prince.