Nipsey Hussle’s Family Turned Down $20 Million-Plus From Netflix and Disney: “It’s Not a Money Play”
The blogs ran with a clean number this week: $20 million from Netflix and Disney for the Nipsey Hussle documentary, and the family said no. But the real version of this story doesn’t come from a blog graphic. It comes straight from Blacc Sam’s mouth — and his number was even bigger.
Sam — Nipsey’s older brother Samiel Asghedom, who oversees the estate — broke it down during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. By his account, the offers from Netflix and Disney’s Onyx Collective went well past the number making the rounds. “It was upwards of 20, high 20s [million],” Sam said. “And it’s not a money play.” He made it plain: no amount of money was going to make the family hand over control of his brother’s story. Netflix and Disney have not publicly confirmed the offers — the figures are Sam’s, on the record.
If that stance sounds familiar, it’s because the family has held it for years. Sam has said elsewhere, including the Bootleg Kev podcast, that earlier versions were shelved over creative control. In family interview clips circulating this week, he explained the streamers wanted it cut down — Netflix reportedly pushed for a two-episode limit. The family walked away, regained 100 percent of the rights, and decided to finish it themselves.
What they’re protecting is much bigger than a two-episode special. The project has grown into an eight- or nine-episode series built from hundreds of hours of footage: Nipsey documenting his own life, his father filming him as a kid, his first studio session at age 12, family trips to Africa, unreleased music, even the birth of his daughter. Director One9, whose credits include Nas: Time Is Illmatic and the Allen Iverson docuseries, is overseeing the project. It’s produced through Marathon Films alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company, with interviews from Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, and filmmaker Allen Hughes among those who have reviewed the footage.
The finish is funded the Marathon way — the family paying for the edit themselves, in increments of roughly $100,000, on their own terms. Sam has said the final cut won’t be open to outside revision, and ownership is structured so the documentary ultimately belongs to Nipsey’s children. He’s even talked about releasing it as widely as possible — possibly for free.
No distribution deal is final; the family is still deciding where the series lands. These talks are separate from the Ava DuVernay–Netflix conversations years ago, which ended over length and control — same principle, different era. Nipsey told his family that any film about his life “better be a classic.” Years later, with high-eight-figure money on the table, they’re still holding that line. The marathon continues — on their terms, or not at all.
