A proposed documentary about the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton that had raised the ire of the Republican National Committee and caused them to potentially boycott CNN for the 2016 presidential debates if the documentary was aired has been canceled after the director pulled out of the project, according to USA Today.
Director Charles Ferguson wrote about the myriad of reasons that he had chosen to pull out of the project in a blog post on the Huffington Post where he said that he had a huge amount of trouble getting people to appear in the documentary.
"When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film," Ferguson said. "Not Democrats, not Republicans - and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons, or dreams of a position in a Hilary Clinton administration.
"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 continued.
The proposed documentary, as well as an NBC mini-series starring Diane Lane as Clinton, were attacked by RNC chairman Reince Priebus for being pro-Clinton propaganda and thus being a reason to exclude the networks from an opportunity to broadcast the Republican presidential debates, according to the New York Times.
"It's appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who have donated to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be Hillary Clinton's campaign operatives," Priebus said in a statement released in August. "Their actions to promote Secretary Clinton are disturbing and disappointing."
In mid-August the RNC voted to exclude the two networks from their 2016 debates. In a statement released by RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski the group claimed that it was their influence that helped scuttle the film, according to the Washington Post.
"While CNN is not moving forward with its Hillary Clinton infomercial, it's clearly not of their choosing but rather because the filmmaker quit in large part because of the RNC's actions," Kukowski said. "This was only the first step in the Republican Party taking control of our debate process."
In his explanation Ferguson said that he had completely expected the opposition from the right but was a bit taken aback by how many on the left opposed his film, according to Huffington Post.
"What did surprise me was that, quietly and privately, prominent Democrats made it known both to CNN and to me that they weren't delighted with the film, either," Ferguson said.
Ferguson explains that he would not have been able to make the film that he set out to make and places at least part of the blame on the Clintons.
"It's a victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have now become," Ferguson wrote. "But I don't think that it's a victory for the media, or for the American people. I still believe that Mrs. Clinton has many virtues including great intelligence, fortitude, and a deep commitment to bettering the lives of women and children worldwide. But this is not her finest hour."