What Michael Jackson's family have said about divisive new movie

The new Michael Jackson biopic has certainly been a divisive movie and that was before it even dropped in cinemas across the US earlier this week.

Simply titled Michael, the new film tells the story of the 'Thriller' hitmaker becoming the ‘King of Pop’ as he sold out venues across the globe with his music.

Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson stars in the movie as the singer, while other members of the Jackson family have spoken out over the biopic.

One person who's had nothing to do with the new biopic is Paris Jackson, who's previously said the movie tells a story that isn't true.

Paris is also currently embroiled in a legal battle with her father's estate over financial matters.

She's accused estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain of poor financial judgment and a lack of transparency in the years since Jackson died.

Paris is said to described the movie as a ‘botched production’ during a court appearance earlier this year, according to TMZ.

Paris Jackson has not been involved in the biopic (Charley Gallay/Getty Images)

Taking to Instagram in August 2025, Paris added: "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."

La Toya Jackson, Jackson's brother, told a bit of a different story, as she told The Hollywood Reporter she believed it was 'very important' for the whole Jackson clan to work together on the movie.

"A lot of times people think they know the story and they read about things, but when the family’s involved, the family can say yay or nay," she said.

La Toya also described Jaafar performance as the 'King of Pop' in Michael as 'absolutely fantastic', as she spoke to E! at the premiere of the biopic.

Jafaar Jackson as Michael Jackson (Lionsgate)

Critics haven't looked too favorably on the movie following Jackson's life, with Michael sitting at a lowly 38 percent Rotten Tomatoes score at the time of writing.

The 'Billie Jean' singer's nephew Taj Jackson has hit back on that.

"Sorry, media, you don’t get to control the narrative anymore of who Michael Jackson truly was," Taj wrote on X.

"The public gets to watch this movie… they will decide for themselves. And you can’t handle that. Can’t wait until some critics have to eat crow. And yes, I will be that petty."

While critics are not rating the new biopic, audience ratings of the biopic are extremely positive.

Rotten Tomatoes reveals an impressive 97 percent score from audience ratings, much higher than the 38 percent recorded from critics.