The director of M.I.A.'s long-awaited new documentary has bowed out of the project after leaking early footage online over the weekend (06-07Jul13).

Steve Loveridge teased the documentary, which was scheduled for release to coincide with the provocative star's new album Matangi, on his Tumblr account, and received a swift rebuke from executives at the rapper's Roc Nation label.

They suggested the leak "screws with everything we've been working on setting up Matangi".

Loveridge responded by resigning from the project, stating, "I really couldn't give a flying f**k. Count me out. Would rather die than work on this."

And now M.I.A. has suggested she might need the help of her fans to complete funding on the film in the wake of Loveridge's departure. In a tweet to followers on Sunday (07Jun13) she wrote, "im gonna need @kickstarter and my fans to help make this exist, ive been black listed through normal channels (sic)!"

The teaser posted over the weekend features archival footage of Kanye West, Spike Jonze and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, among others.

It is still not clear when M.I.A. will release her new album after a series of delays.