Oprah Winfrey spends fortune to prevent revealing documentary about her life from being released

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Oprah Winfrey, 70, reportedly paid a huge sum to block the broadcast of a revealing documentary about her life.

The media mogul, who has a fortune of $3 billion, has made headlines for her decision to keep the explosive project a secret.

Oprah Winfrey paid a large sum to prevent the release of a new documentary

The bombshell documentary, originally slated to air on Apple TV Plus, was first announced in January 2021.

Directed by Kevin Macdonald, known for his work on the Whitney Houston documentary “Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017),” and produced by longtime “The Oprah Winfrey Show” collaborator Lisa Erspamer, the film was set to take a deep dive into Winfrey’s life and career.

However, according to Page Six, the project has run into turmoil behind the scenes due to conflicts between Winfrey and Macdonald over the film’s content and direction.

The highly anticipated series was designed to chronicle Oprah Winfrey’s rise to fame over the course of 25 years.

The project was originally planned as a two-part series intended to cover 25 years of American history through Oprah Winfrey’s rise to fame with Kevin Macdonald directing and Rolake Bamgbose serving as showrunner.

According to sources, the TV star and Macdonald had a falling out over the content of the highly anticipated film. “Kevin made the film, but Oprah didn’t like it and he refused to change it, and Oprah gave Apple her fee back,” the source revealed. The discord led Winfrey to take drastic measures, buying back the rights and deciding to shelve the project.

“As her contract with Apple TV+ came to an end, Ms. Winfrey reacquired the rights to her documentary series and has since decided to put the documentary on hold,” a spokesperson for Winfrey said, confirming the decision. Despite acknowledging Macdonald and Erspamer’s talents, Winfrey chose to end the documentary, reportedly because “it wasn’t the right time to make a documentary,” a second source added.

“Ms. Winfrey believes that Lisa Erspamer and Kevin MacDonald are incredibly talented filmmakers and is grateful for the time and energy they have devoted to the project.”

Was Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary Buyout a Million Dollar Deal?

Oprah Winfrey’s content deal with Apple TV Plus closed in September 2022, prompting her decision to repurchase the rights at that time.

Industry sources have suggested that Winfrey would have had to spend millions to get the rights back, though other sources have disputed that the figure was in the seven figures.

Erspamer, who produced “The Oprah Winfrey Show” from 1999 to 2009, also collaborated with Macdonald on the 2018 documentary “Whitney” about Houston’s life.

Notably, Apple TV Plus and Winfrey’s production company Harpo struck a multi-year deal in 2018, which ended in 2022. Her most recent collaboration with Apple TV+ was “Sidney,” a project highlighting the life of Sidney Poitier.