Documentaries are hard work. The best ones take discipline, time, effort, and money. The decision to shelve them is a rare occurrence. Something significant must occur for a studio or network to pull the plug.
Most people have never seen ESPN’s Down in the Valley, the story of Sacramento’s fight to keep the Kings from relocating to another city. The sports documentary was scheduled to debut under the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ prestigious 30 for 30 brand on Oct. 20, 2015.
That never happened.
ESPN killed the documentary following allegations that then-Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a central figure in the 77-minute feature, molested a teenage girl while playing for the Phoenix Suns in the 1990s.
Down in the Valley had its official premiere in downtown Sacramento on Oct. 12, 2015, and occasionally an unauthorized copy pops up online. However, for the most part, it has been scrubbed from the internet, hidden in a virtual vault from the public. In a Wikipedia list of 30 for 30s, an entry for Down in the Valley appears under the subhead “Unknown.”
What happened with Down in the Valley is a story about journalism, the criminal justice system, and fame. What was intended to be a heartwarming narrative focusing on the fandom of a small-market NBA team became an avatar for something sinister. Johnson, a Sacramento native, was celebrated as a hero for helping to prevent the Kings from moving to Seattle in 2013.
Down in the Valley was directed by Jason Hehir, who later went on to make the Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls documentary The Last Dance. Johnson was featured prominently in this film. ESPN’s universally praised 30 for 30 series has been the gold standard for sports documentaries. But when the conversations around Down in the Valley went from the Kings to accusations about Johnson, that changed everything.
At the time, this story was not new. Several years earlier, The Sacramento Bee reported on the allegations and published the transcript of her interview with police. No criminal charges were ever filed; however, a settlement of $230,000 was reached. None of this stopped Johnson from ascending in his political career. What was new? Deadspin published its own story after speaking with the then-36-year-old woman, including the footage of the original police interview. The explicit details are obviously disturbing.
As Marcos Bretón of the Sacramento Bee noted, “Her words have been noted in police transcripts that have been public for a very long time. They have been available to Bee readers on Sacbee.com since 2008, when Johnson was first running for mayor.”
And yet, that video and the follow-up interview with the accuser led to a bigger spotlight on the allegations. Incredibly, despite the media storm, Johnson attended the documentary premiere in Sacramento, evading questions.
ESPN originally announced that it was postponing Down in the Valley. The network’s statement can still be found in an article posted on ESPN.com.
“The film was initially completed in the spring for a film festival premiere, but in light of the recent, renewed focus on past allegations against one of its key characters, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, we have decided to postpone the ESPN premiere as we, along with director Jason Hehir, reexamine the presentation and content,” it read.
Eventually, a decision was made, quietly.
ESPN, owned by the Walt Disney Company, never broadcast the documentary. That was the end of Down in the Valley. Following the accusation’s resurfacing, Johnson announced that he would not seek a third term as mayor. In March 2016, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel aired an episode about new allegations against Johnson, and included its own interview with Johnson’s original accuser.
Credit ESPN for acting swiftly. Still, one has to wonder about the decision-making process behind the documentary.
The Sacramento Bee, citing an anonymous source, wrote that “Hehir discussed whether or not to address the allegations against Johnson. Ultimately, he and ESPN jointly decided to leave them out because they were deemed unrelated to the primary narrative of saving the Kings.”
Down in the Valley has become the Halley’s Comet of sports documentaries, something rarely seen but also something that left an impression on people. It is listed on IMDb and Letterbox.
As one Letterbox reviewer put it, “It’s the most Sacramento thing to happen, to have an ESPN documentary made about your NBA team almost leaving the city (NOT a story about this team’s success) and then have that documentary get shelved before it ever aired.”