NBC, CNN scrap Hillary Clinton programs

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2013, file photo, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks about Syria in the South Court Auditorium on the White House Complex in Washington. (AP Photo)

Hours after CNN canceled a planned documentary on the life of former Secretary of State, first lady, and presumptive 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, NBC announced that it was scrapping a planned miniseries about Clinton's life and career from 1998 to the present day.

The Hollywood Reporter cited a statement from NBC released Monday that read, "After reviewing and prioritizing our slate of movie/miniseries development, we've decided that we will no longer continue developing the Hillary Clinton miniseries."

The announcement came on the same day that the director of the planned CNN Clinton documentary, Charles Ferguson, wrote in a column for the Huffington Post that he was pulling out of the project. He cited opposition from members of both parties -- the Republican National Committee had threatened to boycott presidential primary debates hosted by CNN over the project -- but indicated the strongest resistance came from the Clinton world.

"When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film," he 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 Hillary Clinton administration."

Ferguson said that after approaching more than 100 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."

NBC announced in July that it was developing the four-hour miniseries with actress Diane Lane slated to play the role of Clinton. In response, the Republican National Committee voted the following month to boycott 2016 presidential debates hosted by NBC. The project even sounded alarm bells in NBC's news division, with the network's political director Chuck Todd calling it "a total nightmare" and chief foreign affairs correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell saying the miniseries was "a bad idea."

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