The Russell Simmons #MeToo documentary On the Record garnered its fair share of controversy at the Sundance Film Festival this year. From Oscar-nominated filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick (The Invisible War), the documentary—which chronicles the long-term effects of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’s alleged misconduct on his accusers, who number around 20—received strong reviews and a standing ovation. (Simmons has vehemently denied all accusations of nonconsensual sexual encounters.) But the film, which grapples with the complex dilemma black women face in the #MeToo movement, also found itself embroiled in a strange P.R. subplot when Oprah Winfrey—the most powerful black woman in the industry—pulled her backing from the project.
Winfrey has since explained why she removed her name from On the Record—saying that she had creative differences with the filmmakers, but still stands in support of Simmons’s accusers. But her decision to distance herself from the project—and effectively sever its Apple TV+ distribution deal in the process—was a shocking blow to Ziering and Dick, who maintain that Winfrey’s decision is still a mystery to them.
“She and her company were involved with the project for nearly a year,” Dick said to Vanity Fair last week. “They were very close collaborators. They loved the project and the footage from the first time they saw it all the way through the picture log. They and Apple were the people that submitted the film to Sundance. They made an announcement prior to the Sundance announcement talking about how proud they were to be associated with the film. It was a very close working relationship. So we don’t have any additional insight.”
The filmmakers had already confronted another kind of obstacle in production—finding men in the hip-hop industry willing to take part in the project. Though a few, like Daddy-O and Miguel Mojica, participated alongside accusers like Sil Lai Abrams, Sherri Hines, and Drew Dixon, Ziering told Vanity Fair that it was “extremely hard to find men who would talk on camera.” Dixon, the former record producer on whom the documentary hinges, speaks compellingly about the alleged quid pro quo culture at Def Jam Records and how the alleged sexual assault she suffered had long-term effects on her personal life and once-promising career in hip-hop. Yet the many bold-faced male artists with whom she collaborated in the ’90s—and name-checks in the documentary—are absent from the film. Simmons, meanwhile, is represented by flat, formally worded denials of misconduct.
Though frustrating, the lack of men willing to speak openly wasn’t a surprise to the filmmakers, who said that they encountered the same issue when making their previous documentaries about sexual assault: The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground.
“I don’t think [the music industry] is any different than any other industry, frankly,” said Dick, explaining that he thinks all people become “very cautious” about participating in a project that could be critical of their professional field and have potential career repercussions: “They have long-standing relationships and are still working in the industry.” The same was true of The Hunting Ground, which examined sexual assault on college campuses, Ziering said: “It was harder to get college presidents to speak on camera than it was to talk to people inside the Pentagon.”
The filmmakers are still hopeful, however, that On the Record—which debuts Wednesday on HBO Max—will help the culture, and maybe the people willing to stand up in support of accusers.
“We really do need to keep moving forward,” said Ziering. “And I just hope that it, like our other films, enlightens, inspires, and informs, so that you have more empathy and awareness about the nature of these crimes—and the lifetime of reverberations they have and social costs they [incur].”
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