Here's Why The Making Of The Michael Jackson Movie "Michael" Was A S**tshow—& Why Reviews Are So Bad

2d ago | Source: Yahoo

Universal Pictures

<h3>Warning: Discussion of child abuse.</h3>

<h3><em>Michael</em>, the new movie starring Michael Jackson's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the titular role, has been met with some backlash since its announcement. Perhaps that's not surprising.</h3>

<h3>So, here's everything you need to know about the controversy behind the biopic:</h3>

<h2>Jackson was accused of abuse by numerous boys</h2>

<h3>There's no way around it: Jackson has been accused <a class="link " href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/10-undeniable-facts-about-the-michael-jackson-sexual-abuse-allegations" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">numerous times</a> of sexually abusing children. He always <a class="link " href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/magazine/michael-jackson-biopic-estate.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">maintained</a> his innocence, but likely any biopic — especially one made in close partnership with his estate — was going to be accused of trying to rehabilitate the late singer's image.</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Dave Hogan / Getty Images</div>

<h3>The director of the disturbing documentary <em>Leaving Neverland</em>, which shocked 2019 audiences with its subjects' detailed allegations against Jackson, wrote a piece for <a class="link " href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/commentisfree/2023/feb/05/this-new-michael-jackson-biopic-will-glorify-a-man-who-abused-children" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the Guardian</a> lambasting <em>Michael</em> after the movie was announced in 2023. Its headline was clear on the author's stance: "This new <a class="link " href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/abbyzinman/vintage-trivia-quiz" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Michael Jackson</a> biopic will glorify a man who abused children."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Pool / Getty Images</div>

<h3>Incidentally, if you did want to watch <em>Leaving Neverland</em> now, you likely can't. It's been removed from HBO Max after Jackson's estate sued the network for $100 million, alleging that it had broken a 1992 <a class="link " href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/what-happened-to-the-emmy-winning-michael-jackson-doc-leaving-neverland" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">nondisparagement clause</a> that was made to air one of Jackson's concert movies.</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Win McNamee / Getty Images</div>

<h2>The original script did not depict the accusers positively</h2>

<h3>In March 2024, journalist Matthew Belloni for <a class="link " href="https://puck.news/the-michael-jackson-movie-wants-to-change-your-mind/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Puck</a> purported to have looked at the script for the upcoming movie. He claimed that the movie was supposed to open with the police arriving at Neverland in the 1993 investigation into molestation claims made by 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h3>"The script then goes to great lengths to minimize and downplay the actual claims and eviscerate the Chandlers," the article claims, with Miles Teller's depiction of lawyer John Branca set to call the allegations "extortion" and suggests it's a result of "greedy" parents. Puck adds that the message of the film seems to be that "Michael was the actual victim here."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h2>The movie had to have reshoots worth $15 million</h2>

<h3><a class="link " href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/michael-movie-reshoots-removing-child-abuse-allegations-1236710221/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Variety</a> reported in April 2026 that the final third of the movie was largely supposed to be dedicated to the child abuse allegations. However, that isn't what's in the actual film. That's because attorneys for Jackson's estate reportedly only realized that there was a clause in a settlement made with the accuser, Jordan Chandler, that prohibited any depiction of him in any movie.</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h3>Instead, through reshoots and edits, Variety reported that the movie would end with Jackson at his peak. "The movie leans heavily into Jackson’s music, featuring one showstopper after another, and away from his sometimes bizarre personal behavior," the publication notes, claiming that tension instead came from the domineering role of Joe Jackson.</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h2>The director has expressed skeptisim over the allegations</h2>

<h3>Perhaps unsurprisingly, director Antoine Fuqua has questioned the allegations made against Jackson, telling the <a class="link " href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/27/antoine-fuqua-profile" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">New Yorker</a>, "Sometimes people do some nasty things for some money.”</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Kevin Mazur / Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Lionsgate</div>

<h2><a class="link " href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/things-that-happened-in-2004" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Janet Jackson</a> isn't in it</h2>

<h3>Notably absent from the movie is Michael's sister and artist in her own right, Janet Jackson. Now, <a class="link " href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/03/11/janet-jermaine-jackson-fight-over-michael-movie/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">TMZ</a> reported in March that Janet was critical of the movie due to her jealousy of Michael (though it's worth taking that with a grain of salt).</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">KMazur / WireImage</div>

<h3>LaToya <a class="link " href="https://variety.com/2026/film/columns/latoya-jackson-sister-janet-kindly-declined-portrayed-michael-1236726921/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">addressed</a> Janet's absence at the movie's Hollywood premiere: "I wish everybody was in the movie...She was asked and she kindly declined so you have to respect her wishes.”</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Savion Washington / Getty Images for Lionsgate</div>

<h2><a class="link " href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mychalthompson/michael-jackson-kids-rare-photo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Paris Jackson</a> has criticized the movie</h2>

<h3>Another Jackson family member who isn't involved with the movie is Paris, Michael's daughter with Debbie Rowe. Last September, after <a class="link " href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/best-black-movies-you-need-to-watch" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Colman Domingo</a> claimed she was "very much in support of our film," she wrote on her Instagram story, "don't be telling people i was 'helpful' on the set of a movie i had 0% involvement in lol that is so weird."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Charley Gallay / Getty Images</div>

<h3>"i read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest / didn't sit right with me and when they didn't address it i moved on with my life," she continued, adding in a video, "I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it. A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Handout / Getty Images</div>

<h3>Comparing it to biopics <em>Bohemian Rhapsody</em> and <em>The Dirt</em>, she said, "It’s fantasy land. It’s not real but it’s sold to you as real and a lot of sugar-coated…the narrative is being controlled and there’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of just full-blown lies."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h2>The reviews have largely been terrible</h2>

<h3>Currently, <em>Michael</em> sits at a 34% approval rating on <a class="link " href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/michael" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. "It’s like a 127-minute trailer montage assembling every music-movie cliche you can think of," one critic wrote for <a class="link " href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/apr/21/michael-review-cliched-jackson-biopic-is-bland-bowdlerised-and-bad" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the Guardian</a>. "This is a frustratingly shallow, inert picture, a kind of cruise-ship entertainment, which can’t quite bring itself to show that Michael was an abuse victim, brutalised by his father and robbed of his childhood. Perhaps this is because it would have a cause-and-effect implication."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h3>Beyond the abuse being omitted, other critics have noticed what <em>isn't</em> in the movie. As one critic for the <a class="link " href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/movies/michael-review.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">New York Times</a> put it, "Any life sounds like a triumph if you end the story right before things get tough. The movie omits the really hard stuff that plagued Jackson; his scalp surgery after experiencing third-degree burns in 1984 now becomes mostly a driver of his success and determination to 'shine my light, to spread love and joy, to heal,' but we never witness the painkiller addiction that grew from it."</h3>

<div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Universal Pictures</div>

<h3>Well, <em>Michael</em> was originally intended to be a multi-part series of movies, so...we'll see how that goes.</h3>