Kat Graham’s scenes cut from ‘Michael’ biopic as Diana Ross due to “legal considerations”
Kat Graham has revealed that the scenes she filmed as Diana Ross for the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, have been cut due to “legal considerations”.
The star took to social media to share that she will not be included in the big screen feature, which will hit cinemas on April 24th.
Graham explained, “I want to share that certain legal considerations affected a few scenes, including ones I filmed with an incredible cast.”
She added candidly, “Unfortunately, those moments are no longer part of the final cut, though the team worked hard to preserve as much of the story as possible.”
Jackson and Ross met during the King of Pop’s time in The Jackson 5. His brother Jermaine once revealed that Jackson wrote the romantic ballad, ‘Remember The Time’, about Ross.
However, the new biopic will fail to depict their relationship after facing plenty of setbacks in production. Michael eventually delayed its release date after it was forced to completely reshoot part of the movie and remove allegations of child abuse against Jackson.
After a settlement was reached with Evan Chandler, an LA dentist and screenwriter who accused Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son in 1993, the production only discovered at a late stage that a clause in the agreement prevented them from depicting the child or even mentioning his name.
Subsequently, they had to spend tens of millions to reshoot the end of the movie; Jackson’s estate reportedly covered the cost. This seems to be the reason Graham’s depiction of the ‘I’m Coming Out’ singer was removed from the final cut.
Recently, Jackson’s nephews took to social media to defend the biopic amid poor critical reception: Taj Jackson wrote on X, “Sorry media, you don’t get to control the narrative anymore of who Michael Jackson truly was. The public gets to watch this movie…they will decide for themselves. And you can’t handle that.”
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