Hillary Clinton Documentary Axed; Director Cites Pressure From Aides
Charles Ferguson, director for CNN Films, decided to cancel his documentary about Hillary Clinton after allegedly receiving friction from Clinton's aides. He has no future plans to continue working on the documentary.
In a column written for the Huffington Post, Ferguson names Nick Merrill, Clinton's press secretary; Phillipe Reines, her media fixer; and David Brock as people who leaned on him during the initial announcement about his project. They were not happy with the film and worried that Ms. Clinton would be painted in an unfair way after serving as Secretary of State.
"Neither political party wanted the film made," Ferguson noted. "After painful reflection, I decided that I couldn't make a film of which I would be proud. And so I'm cancelling. It's a victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have now become. But I don't think that it's a victory for the media, or for the American people."
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There was great ado about the documentary; when it was announced, the Republican National Committee decided that it would not allow channels that aired it to air the next Republican primary debates.
"After approaching well over a hundred people, only two persons who had ever dealt with Mrs. Clinton would agree to an on-camera interview, and I suspected that even they would back out," Ferguson said. "When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film … not Democrats, not Republicans."
CNN Films issued its own statement about the situation and Ferguson's decision.
"Charles Ferguson has informed us that he is not moving forward with his documentary about Hillary Clinton," CNN Worldwide spokesperson Allison Gollust told Politico. "Charles is an Academy Award-winning director who CNN Films was excited to be working with, but we understand and respect his decision [We] won't see other partners and are not proceeding with the film."
