Oprah Winfrey Pulls Out of Kirby Dick-Amy Ziering #MeToo Documentary: 'I Feel It's Best to Step Aside'

Untitled film about Russell Simmons accuser yanked from Apple TV+ schedule, but will still premiere at Sundance: 'The film is a beacon of hope for voices that have long been suppressed'

Former music industry executive Drew Dixon, subject of the "Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Documentary" premiering at Sundance. Photo courtesy Sundance Film Festival

Oprah Winfrey has pulled her name off the high profile Untitled Kirby Dick-Amy Ziering Documentary about minority women and the #MeToo movement, saying she doesn't think it's ready to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in two weeks.

​The film focuses on several African-American women who allege they were sexually abused or assaulted by powerful men in the music industry, but kept silent about it until the #MeToo movement took hold. The documentary's main character is former record executive Drew Dixon who accused hiphop mogul Russell Simmons of raping her in 1995. After Winfrey's role as executive producer of the film came to light, Simmons and rapper 50 Cent criticized her on social media.

"First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women," Winfrey insisted in a statement. "Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision."

The statement continued, "Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering are talented filmmakers. I have great respect for their mission but given the filmmakers’ desire to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival before I believe it is complete, I feel it’s best to step aside."
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The #MeToo experiences of Black women deserve to be heard, especially against powerful men, so we will continue with our plans to bring the film to The Sundance Film Festival.

--Filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering

Winfrey also said the documentary won't air on Apple TV+, where she has a production deal, as originally announced.

Dick and Ziering won acclaim for investigating sexual assault in the military in The Invisible War (2012) and the epidemic of rape on college campuses in The Hunting Ground (2015). After news of Winfrey's departure from the film came out, the filmmakers issued a statement of their own in which they say they are going forward with the Sundance premiere.

"Revealing hard truths is never easy, and the women in our documentary are all showing extraordinary strength and courage by raising their voices to address sexual abuse in the music industry," Dick and Ziering wrote. "While we are disappointed that Oprah Winfrey is no longer an Executive Producer on the project, we are gratified that Winfrey has unequivocally said she believes and supports the survivors in the film.

"The #MeToo experiences of Black women deserve to be heard, especially against powerful men, so we will continue with our plans to bring the film to The Sundance Film Festival.  This film, more than two years in the making, will be our eighth film to premiere at Sundance.
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"The film is a beacon of hope for voices that have long been suppressed, and an inspiration for anyone wanting to regain their personal power.”

Director Kirby Dick after an IDA Conversation Series event in Los Angeles, July 21, 2015. Photo by Matt Carey

Sundance extols the film in its online catalogue.

"Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Film is a gripping, complex study of race, gender, and the shared feelings of helplessness and terror that come from abuse," according to the festival program. "Through her bravery, Dixon inspired many previously silenced women to share their stories. These incredibly strong silence-breakers discuss their reluctance to add to the dangerous mythology and vilification of black men, resulting in their refusal to make those allegations public for decades. Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Film is a well-needed impetus for broad positive change—not just in the music industry but throughout the world."

Dixon was an executive at Def Jam, the record label co-founded by Simmons. She told the New York Times in 2017 that Simmons sexually harassed her repeatedly during her time at the company, then raped her at her apartment in 1995. Three other women have accused Simmons of rape. In a statement to the New York Times for the 2017 article, Simmons wrote, "I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.”

Hiphop mogul Russell Simmons. Photo from ConsequenceofSound.net

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Related:
>Top five things learned in 'Conversation' with Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
​>Leaving Neverland paints devastating portrait of Michael Jackson as serial pedophile

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Winfrey took flack in the past year from Michael Jackson fans, upset that she backed allegations of pedophilia made against the singer in the documentary Leaving Neverland, directed by Dan Reed. Following the two-part film's premiere on HBO, Winfrey hosted a special simulcast on OWN and HBO in which she discussed the allegations against Jackson with the film's director and Jackson's two accusers--James Safechuck and Wade Robson. 

In an Instagram post December 12, 50 Cent lit into Winfrey over her support for the Leaving Neverland and Kirby Dick-Amy Ziering documentaries.

"I don’t understand why Oprah is going after black men," he wrote. "No Harvey Weinstein, No Epstein, just Micheal [sic] jackson and Russell Simmons this shit is sad. Gale hit R Kelly with the death blow documentary. Every time I hear Micheal jackson I don’t know whether to dance or think about the little boys butts. These documentary’s are publicly convicting their targets, it makes them guilty till proven innocent."

In an Instagram post of his own on December 13, Simmons addressed Winfrey directly: "Dearest OPRAH, you have been a shining light to my family and my community. Contributing so much to my life that I couldn’t list a fraction of it in this blog. I have given you the gift of meditation and the groundbreaking book ”THE POWER OF NOW“ we bonded to say the least. This is why it’s so troubling that you choose me to single out in your recent documentry. I have already admitted to being a playboy more (appropriately titled today “womanizer”) sleeping with and putting myself in more compromising situations than almost any man I know. Not 8 or 14 thousand like Warren Beatty or Wilt Chamberlain, but still an embarrassing number. So many that some could reinterpret or reimagine a different recollection of the same experiences."

He added, "I have never been violent or forced myself on anyone." 

A still from "Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Documentary." Photo courtesy Sundance Film Festival