{"id":236484,"date":"2026-04-24T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/michael-jackson-biopic-condemned-as-ghoulish-sanitized\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:35:31","slug":"michael-jackson-biopic-condemned-as-ghoulish-sanitized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/michael-jackson-biopic-condemned-as-ghoulish-sanitized\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson Biopic Condemned as Ghoulish, Sanitized"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2022\/08\/michael-jackson-estate-targeted-latoya-jackson-over-explosive-murder-claims-in-memoir\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jackson Estate<\/a> waged a 5-year legal war against HBO.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, they won \u2014 getting <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/slideshows\/leaving-neverland-the-michael-jackson-documentarys-biggest-bombs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Leaving Neverland<\/a><\/em> permanently removed from HBO Max due to a contract from 1992.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the new Michael biopic is telling a new version of the legendary singer\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>The film\u2019s story ends before any allegations of sexual misconduct emerged. And people are <em>furious<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jaafar Jackson promotes 'Michael' on April 10, 2026.\" class=\"wp-image-553566 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0424_jaafarjackson_01-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jaafar Jackson attends the \u201cMichael\u201d Global Fan Premiere at Uber Eats Music Hall on April 10, 2026.<span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo Credit: Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-michael-tells-a-very-selective-story-about-the-king-of-pop\">\u2018Michael\u2019 tells a very selective story about the King of Pop<\/h2>\n<p>In <em>Michael<\/em>, the titular singer\u2019s own nephew, Jaafar, portrays the larger-than-life King of Pop during his meteoric rise.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Jackson first became famous as part of the Jackson 5. <\/p>\n<p>The siblings\u2019 infamous father\u2019s plans paid off for the entire family, and all that it cost was unspeakable psychological damage that would become a family curse.<\/p>\n<p>Michael himself was the most successful, breakout out into a solo career that is now much better known than the rest of his family\u2019s work combined.<\/p>\n<p>That is covered in the biopic. And basically <em>only<\/em> that is covered in the biopic.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michael | Official Trailer\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3zOLzsbOleM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><em>Michael <\/em>does not include or address the famous sexual abuse allegations against the late singer.<\/p>\n<p>This was clearly a film intended to cater to fans who enjoyed his music and would simply rather not think about the harrowing allegations of sexual abuse leveled at him by a number men who say that he abused them as children.<\/p>\n<p>The Jackson Estate financially backed the film. <em>Michael <\/em>uses the singer\u2019s original vocals for some of the numerous vocal numbers.<\/p>\n<p>One genuinely positive thing that critics have had to say is that Jaafar, son of Jermaine Jackson, did an exemplary job of portraying his uncle.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:fhzyn2bjim75qpcnrqcvddgv\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mjz75xl36s2t\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreihmo6nb2wli25u5setabit7knjzft6m3nezosuz2xacrnya7we4qe\" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode=\"dark\">\n<p lang=\"en\">The reviews for Michael Jackson&#8217;s biopic are in<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:fhzyn2bjim75qpcnrqcvddgv\/post\/3mjz75xl36s2t?ref_src=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Win98 Tech Support (<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:fhzyn2bjim75qpcnrqcvddgv?ref_src=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@win98tech.bsky.social<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:fhzyn2bjim75qpcnrqcvddgv\/post\/3mjz75xl36s2t?ref_src=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">April 21, 2026 at 10:32 AM<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-bad-jokes-write-themselves\">The \u2018Bad\u2019 jokes write themselves<\/h2>\n<p>The rest of the film, however, did not receive rave reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, a lot of people found it straight-up appalling that the biopic ignored the singer\u2019s biggest scandal.<\/p>\n<p>There are many \u2014 essentially, anyone who isn\u2019t a fan of his music \u2014 for whom his child sex-abuse allegations are more infamous than his songs ever were.<\/p>\n<p>Even many who once enjoyed Michael\u2019s music can certainly agree that the allegations of sex crimes against children are more <em>important<\/em> than how fun his music was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeparating the art from the artist\u201d makes sense if you want to listen to a bop (and the artist or author or whoever is dead and will not benefit from your enjoyment). But it doesn\u2019t really make sense in a biopic, which is inherently about the <em>artist<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michael (2026) Final Trailer - Jaafar Jackson\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k-YAcjaLuSI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>According to a stunning report from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/michael-movie-reshoots-removing-child-abuse-allegations-1236710221\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Variety<\/a><\/em>, <em>Michael <\/em>would have originally included at least some references to the molestation allegations.<\/p>\n<p>A historic NDA from a settlement with accuser Jordan Chandler forbids his depiction in any form in the film. (Old contracts seem to be doing a lot of favors for the singer\u2019s image.)<\/p>\n<p>This meant a whopping $15 million in reshoots and a partial rewrite. The film ended up covering Michael\u2019s story from the \u201960s until the \u201980s, at which point it stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Critics have likened this to a biopic about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/03\/jeffrey-epstein-authorities-search-sprawling-new-mexico-property-for-dead-bodies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> as a financier, palling around with tech billionaires and powerful politicians, with no mention whatsoever of victims.<\/p>\n<p>But we cannot rule out that someone will eventually make a biopic that matches that description. It takes a lot to make a good movie. But to simply make <em>a movie<\/em>, all that you need is money.<\/p>\n<p>We should count ourselves lucky that Epstein couldn\u2019t moonwalk or whatever, or maybe such a project would have an audience.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/04\/michael-jackson-biopic-condemned-ghoulish-whitewashed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 3 minutes The Jackson Estate waged a 5-year legal war against HBO. Ultimately, they won \u2014 getting Leaving Neverland permanently removed from HBO Max due to a contract from 1992. Now, the new Michael biopic is telling a new version of the legendary singer\u2019s story. The film\u2019s story ends before any allegations of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hollywood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}