Several members of the Jackson family turned out Monday for the premiere of Michael at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, but Paris Jackson stayed away.
Janet Jackson also did not attend, and the eldest sibling, Rebbie Jackson, skipped the event as well. La Toya Jackson said Janet had been asked to take part in the film and declined, adding that there had been no problem and that she wished everybody had been in the movie.
Paris Jackson’s absence carried extra weight because she had already made clear she wanted distance from the project. Last year, she said she gave feedback on an early draft and that her notes were not addressed. She later called the film “sugar-coated,” saying, “It’s not my project, they’re going to make whatever they’re going to make.” She also said the movie catered to “a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy,” and added that “the narrative is being controlled, and there’s a lot of inaccuracy, and there’s a lot of full blown lies, and at the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me.”
The film itself includes portrayals of many of the Jackson siblings and follows Michael Jackson from childhood through his rise to superstardom in the 1980s. It is directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Michael Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the title role. Prince Jackson and Bigi Jackson have supported events tied to the film, with Prince also serving as an executive producer and spending time regularly on set.
The sharpest strain around the movie is not family attendance but what was left out. Earlier drafts of the script included sexual abuse allegations brought by 13-year-old Michael Jackson accuser Jordie Chandler, but the finished film cut those claims. That decision explains why the project has drawn scrutiny even before wide release: the family presence at Monday’s premiere suggested support, while Paris Jackson’s public remarks made clear that at least one close relative believes the story has been cleaned up too much.
For the film, that split may matter more than a red-carpet photo. The premiere put the Jackson family back in the same conversation, but not on the same side of it.
