Oprah Winfrey's Curious Financial Move Raises Questions About Her Shelved Apple TV+ Documentary
In 2021, Apple TV+ was excited to announce that they had secured the rights for a two-part documentary about the life of Oprah Winfrey. Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald directed the documentary while teaming up with Winfrey’s longtime producer, Lisa Erspamer. Three years later, there’s an update to the project, and it’s not a good one.
Winfrey has apparently bought back the rights from Apple TV+ so the documentary never sees the light of day because she “clashed” with Macdonald once the film was finished, according to Page Six. “Kevin made the film, but Oprah didn’t like it, and he refused to change it, and Oprah has paid back her fee to Apple,” a source explained. Winfrey’s team isn’t hiding the news either.
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“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,” a spokesperson for the media mogul told the outlet. “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.” So, where did the partnership go wrong?
One side claims it’s because the director refused to make the edits requested by Winfrey while her camp had a simpler answer: “It wasn’t the right time to do a documentary.” However, a 2021 Deadline article enthusiastically promoted that the work would “chronicle 25 years of American history through the lens of Winfrey, who rose from humble roots to become a globally famous talk show host, producer, actress, and philanthropist.”
Winfrey didn’t want the documentary to see the light of day, so she paid the streaming network “millions” back, although the Page Six insider “denied it was in the seven figures.” The former daytime talk show host’s production deal ended with Apple TV+ in September 2022 after producing shows like The Oprah Conversations and The Me You Can’t See with Prince Harry about mental health.
The financial move makes fans curious about the content of the documentary. What did Winfrey disagree with, or was it just a timing issue? It’s hard to say because buying back your own life story is sending a strong message that Winfrey doesn’t want the documentary to see the light of day.
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