Red Hot Chili Peppers Distance Themselves From Upcoming Doc on Late Guitarist Hillel Slovak
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have issued a statement distancing themselves from an upcoming Netflix documentary about their history, with the band claiming they had no creative involvement in the project.
According to reports, the documentary titled "The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers" will explore the band's early years and the impact of their original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988 due to an accidental heroin overdose. Directed by Ben Feldman, the film is set to premiere on March 20.
However, the band has since released a statement clarifying that they were not involved creatively with the documentary project. "We were asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Hillel Slovak a year ago," they said in a social media post. "We agreed to be interviewed out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory. However, this documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not."
The band members expressed their hope that the film would spark interest in Slovak's work and legacy, rather than being misconstrued as an official Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary.
It's worth noting that the band has had several lineup changes over the years following Slovak's death, with drummer Jack Irons leaving the group shortly after. The current configuration of the band features Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on bass, and Chad Smith on drums.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have issued a statement distancing themselves from an upcoming Netflix documentary about their history, with the band claiming they had no creative involvement in the project.
According to reports, the documentary titled "The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers" will explore the band's early years and the impact of their original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988 due to an accidental heroin overdose. Directed by Ben Feldman, the film is set to premiere on March 20.
However, the band has since released a statement clarifying that they were not involved creatively with the documentary project. "We were asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Hillel Slovak a year ago," they said in a social media post. "We agreed to be interviewed out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory. However, this documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not."
The band members expressed their hope that the film would spark interest in Slovak's work and legacy, rather than being misconstrued as an official Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary.
It's worth noting that the band has had several lineup changes over the years following Slovak's death, with drummer Jack Irons leaving the group shortly after. The current configuration of the band features Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on bass, and Chad Smith on drums.
I feel bad for them, gotta say, Hillel's passing was super tragic 
. I guess it's better that they're setting the record straight now tho, don't wanna be taken advantage of or have people think it's their doc and not really about Slovak's story at all... 
Still gonna watch the documentary, 'cause who doesn't wanna learn more about RHCP's early days? 
The film crew must've done some digging to get that info out tho... 
I mean, come on guys, don't be so sensitive about it... 
they're not losing their shirt over this doc, right? It's just a documentary 
and if it sparks some love for Hillel Slovak's legacy that's awesome 
. And let's be real, if it's not an official Red Hot Chili Peppers doc, what's the big deal? 
The band's been through so much and they're still kicking... what more do we want to know about their past? 
It's all good, I'm sure they won't let this little thing bring them down 
.
, can you believe this? I mean I get it, they don't want people to think it's an official doc, but at the same time... I feel for them, they were asked to be interviewed and stuff, but now there's all this drama going on. It's like, the doc is still gonna happen no matter what, so maybe just own it, you know? 
red hot chili peppers distancing themselves from it seems like a major bummer for fans wanna learn more about their history & legacy but now we gotta take everything with a grain of salt 
and who knows maybe the documentary will still be good but i'm not holding my breath 
he's such an iconic guitarist and I know how much the band loved him! 
Flea is always talking about how much Slovak meant to them and Anthony's stories about him are so emotional 
. I get it, they don't want their name associated with a film that might not be entirely accurate or true to their story 