Oprah Winfrey Buys Back Rights to Her Own Documentary to Ensure It's Never Released
Oprah Winfrey reportedly purchased the rights to a documentary about her own life from Apple TV+ in order to ensure that it would never be released.
A documentary about the life of the iconic talk show host has been in the works for some time now from filmmaker Kevin MacDonald. MacDonald, working with Apple TV+, has been crafting and creating the doc for many years. It was announced to the public back in 2021. Since it was completed, however, it has remained on hold, and it appears that is where it is going to stay. According to a "Page Six" source, Winfrey has paid the streaming service millions of dollars to get the rights to the documentary back with the intention of barring it from release.
Rumors have circulated stating that the television personality paid millions of dollars to ensure that the documentary was not released. However, a source closer to the project denied that that staggering figure us the case. While it was purchased for a substantial amount of money, the source said the price did not hit seven figures.
This purchase from Winfrey stems from the contentious relationship that she had with the director. A source close to the situation shared that this is a result of the director and the subject butting heads. They stated, "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."
Yet, this rumor is also being called under scrutiny by some members of the team. A source from Oprah's team denied the rumors, stating that MacDonald was open to making edits, but Winfrey decided, "it wasn't the right time to do a documentary."
The spokesperson of Oprah shared the news herself, explaining that, "As the Apple TV+ deal was coming to an end, Ms. Winfrey bought back the rights to her docu-series and has since decided to put the doc on hold."
While there may have been creative differences, Winfrey's team wants to make it clear that this is not a knock on the talents of the filmmakers behind the project. The spokesperson stated, "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."
