Cher has dropped out of a new TV movie about the Flint water crisis in Michigan.
The singer and Oscar winner has told filmmakers she can no longer shoot Flint in Toronto, Canada, due to a family matter.
Cher was set to portray a Flint resident impacted by the water crisis in the drama, which is inspired by a 2016 Time magazine cover story.
"This has been a project so near and dear to my heart and I was truly looking forward to helping tell this story," Cher says in a statement. "Unfortunately, I will be unable to leave Los Angeles during the scheduled filming as I am dealing with a serious family issue that prevents me from going on location for the April filming."
Cher has thanked the producers for agreeing to "move ahead" without her, adding, "I know that this Lifetime (network) movie will be done beautifully."
The producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron optioned the rights to Josh Sanburn's article and newswoman Katie Couric is on board as an executive producer. Cher was also an executive producer but she will no longer be involved in the project in any capacity.
Bruce Beresford is still set to direct with casting details to be confirmed.
Cher has been one of the biggest celebrity supporters of the Flint community ever since news of the city's polluted water supply broke. The Believe singer sent more than 180,000 bottles of water to the area in January, 2016, but noted to Billboard some of her charitable efforts were thwarted by officials, due to red tape.
Announcing her involvement in the Lifetime Television project about the pollution disaster last month (Feb17), the 70-year-old superstar said, "I’ve been involved with Flint since pretty much the beginning, so I think this is going to have merit."
She told The Washington Post the TV movie is modeled after Julia Roberts' 2000 biographical drama Erin Brockovich.
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