Oprah Winfrey reportedly paid a substantial sum to Apple TV+ executives to regain the rights to a documentary about her life, Page Six has revealed.
In 2021, Apple announced with great excitement that Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald would direct the documentary about the talk show host turned media mogul. However, sources tell Page Six that after Macdonald completed the film, he and the 70-year-old billionaire clashed over its content, leading to the project being shelved.
“Kevin made the film, but Oprah didn’t like it, and he refused to change it. Oprah has since paid back her fee to Apple,” a Hollywood insider shared.
A spokesperson for Winfrey, who ended her content deal with Apple in September 2022, confirmed to Page Six, “As the Apple TV+ deal was coming to an end, Ms Winfrey bought back the rights to her docuseries and has since decided to put the doc on hold. Ms Winfrey believes Lisa Erspamer and Kevin Macdonald are incredibly talented filmmakers and is grateful for the time and energy they put into the project.”
A source close to Winfrey insists Macdonald did not refuse to make edits, suggesting instead that Winfrey simply decided “it wasn’t the right time to do a documentary” before making the rare decision to purchase the rights back.
While industry sources speculate that Winfrey would have paid millions to reclaim the rights, an informed source denies the sum was in the seven figures. Macdonald previously collaborated with Erspamer on the biographical documentary Whitney, about Whitney Houston. Erspamer, who produced The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1999 to 2009, is a longtime friend of the media icon.
Apple TV+ representatives were unavailable for comment.
Winfrey previously collaborated with Apple TV+ on projects like The Oprah Conversations and the mental health special The Me You Can’t See with Prince Harry. She also hosted Oprah’s Book Club, available through Apple Books. However, none of these projects matched the impact of her explosive CBS interview with Harry and Meghan Markle in March 2020, following their departure from the royal family.
In addition to the Harry and Meghan interview, Winfrey produced Adele One Night Only, interviewing the British pop star for CBS. These projects were produced through her company, Harpo.
Deadline was the first to report that Winfrey herself would be the subject of a two-part biographical documentary directed by Macdonald. The Scotsman is best known for his Academy Award-winning documentary One Day in September, which recounted the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, as well as his acclaimed films The Last King of Scotland and State of Play.
However, Macdonald’s recent projects, such as One to One: John & Yoko, about John Lennon and Yoko Ono, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and no mention of the Winfrey documentary appears in his recent roster of works.
Winfrey’s last collaboration with Apple was Sidney, a documentary focusing on the life of Sidney Poitier. She was also initially involved with the streamer for On the Record, a documentary about former music executive Drew Dixon, who accused Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct. Simmons has denied the allegations and has never been charged. Just 15 days before its scheduled premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Winfrey unexpectedly dropped the documentary, leaving filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering blindsided.
Winfrey’s documentary isn’t the only high-profile project to be stalled. Netflix’s long-awaited Prince documentary is reportedly “being held hostage” due to disputes with the late musician’s estate over his portrayal in the film. Directed by Ezra Edelman, the nine-hour series has been in development for four years, but remains in limbo due to objections from Prince’s estate.
In the meantime, Winfrey recently announced a new project: she visited Graceland to record an interview with actress Riley Keough for an upcoming CBS special, An Oprah Special: The Presleys — Elvis, Lisa Marie, and Riley. The special promotes Keough’s book about her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, who tragically passed away last year.
