LaToya Jackson reveals Janet Jackson declined ‘Michael’ biopic
LaToya Jackson has revealed the reason that Janet Jackson doesn’t appear in the new film biopic Michael, about their brother, Michael Jackson.
The older sister of the King of Pop was appearing at the LA premiere of the film on April 20th, in which their nephew, Jaafar Jackson, plays the leading role.
However, despite the movie telling the story of Jackson’s life and his rise to fame, a notably absent character is his sister Janet, who has her own illustrious career in the pop industry.
“I wish everybody was in the movie,” LaToya told Variety, before adding, in regards to her sister, “She was asked and she kindly declined so you have to respect her wishes.”
While the film has the approval of certain sections of the Jackson family, including his estate, which has a financial investment in the project, as well as his son, Prince, serving as executive producer, it has not met the blessing of all.
Jackson’s daughter Paris previously heavily criticised the biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua, for having “a lot of inaccuracies” and “full-blown lies”. She was not involved in the making of the film.
Despite this, it seems that Janet Jackson still approves of her family’s new venture, as Fuqua also said at the premiere: “I have so much respect and love for Janet, but you know it’s OK. She’s supportive of Jaafar and that’s what matters.”
Despite the attempts to build hype around the release of Michael, it has also been mired in controversy after it was reported that the production spent $15 million to reshoot and remove the depictions of child abuse that Jackson allegedly perpetrated from the end of the film.
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, with Jackson’s estate reportedly covering the cost.
Michael is set to hit cinemas in the UK on April 22nd.
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