Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris has become the first family member to publicly criticize the $200 million biopic “Michael,” saying she read an early draft of the script, pointed out what felt dishonest to her, and was ignored. She then walked away from the project entirely. Paris didn’t stop there. She called out the estate’s executors by name—John Branca and John McClain—and shot down actor Colman Domingo’s claim that she had been helpful with the movie.
She also skipped the premiere completely. While her brothers Prince and Biggy walked the red carpet in Berlin, Paris was photographed smoking on a street in West Hollywood. Her main complaint is that the film sells a sugar-coated fantasy and calls it the truth. Because she is his daughter, her criticism carries particular weight, and she has become the loudest family voice saying the movie isn’t real.
Janet Jackson also distanced herself from the project, but in a different way. She refused to let the filmmakers use her likeness at all, meaning she doesn’t appear as a character in a movie about her own brother. Behind the scenes, it reportedly got messy. Sources say that at a family screening with around 60 people in the room, Janet picked the film apart—the acting, the makeup, the way characters moved—having something negative to say about almost every scene.
She then supposedly clashed with her brother Jermaine, who reportedly told her she was jealous and had missed the wave. Those screening details come from insiders, so they should be treated as reported claims rather than confirmed facts. Janet’s absence is notable for another reason. She was born in 1966, two years before the movie begins, and was releasing music throughout the 1980s.
Yet she asked the Jackson family not to include her in the film and has been absent from every red carpet, screening, and press event tied to it. Since the estate and many relatives are executive producers who benefit not only from box office success but also from the resulting uptick in album sales and streams, Janet is one of the few family members not financially dependent on Michael’s legacy, thanks to her own successful solo career. The most aggressive critic is Dan Reed, the director of the Leaving Neverland documentary. He called the movie a complete whitewash and “icky,” and went directly after director Antoine Fuqua in an interview with Variety.
Reed’s argument is that an honest Michael movie would have to deal with the abuse claims head on, and he believes they were left out because there’s nothing there to clear Michael’s name. He also said the public doesn’t really care anymore. The line getting the most attention was his comparison of Michael to Jeffrey Epstein. It should be noted that Michael was acquitted of all charges in 2005 and the estate denies all allegations.
Reed clearly made an entire film from the other side of this issue, so that’s the lens he views the story through. Wade Robson, one of the two men at the center of Leaving Neverland, is also involved in an active legal fight. Robson and James Safechuck have a civil case against Michael’s companies reportedly worth around $400 million. The case has been thrown out twice and revived twice, and it’s now heading to trial in November 2026.
Their lawyers have argued that the estate wanted that trial date pushed back on purpose so it would land after the film came out. James Safechuck, the other man from the documentary, has made it clear he wants nothing to do with the movie. When asked about its release, he said his thoughts were with other survivors, noting that Michael is being praised right now and that other survivors go through the same thing when their abusers are celebrated. He said he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to support people who abuse children, confirmed he won’t watch the film, and posted a blunt social media message timed to the release claiming Michael was abusing kids during the Bad era, which is the exact time period the movie covers.
The estate denies this. One of the wildest developments involves the Cascio siblings—Frank, Dominic, Marie Nicole, and Aldo Cascio. This family was once called Michael’s second family, and they were among his strongest defenders at his 2005 trial. In February 2026, all four siblings sued the estate, alleging the abuse started when they were kids.
They called Jackson a serial child predator and said watching Leaving Neverland pushed them to come forward. The Cascios were close to Michael for about 25 years. He brought them on the History Tour, frequently had them over at Neverland, and even hired Frank Cascio as his personal assistant. In old footage, they look like one big happy crew, which makes the allegations more jarring.
Frank has described how Michael treated them as part of his family, saying he was not the King of Pop but just a human being who called them his “second family. ” The estate’s lawyer fired back, calling the lawsuit a desperate money grab. These are allegations in an active legal fight, and nothing has been decided. Podcaster and former TMZ personality Van Lathan Jr.
summed up the movie in one word after the LA premiere: “tough. ” While he acknowledged that the film celebrates music people remember fondly, he said it falls way short of what an exploration of the genius of Michael Jackson should be. Matt Fiddes, Michael’s former bodyguard and a regular defender over the years, also slammed the movie, but for different reasons. He thinks the film airbrushed the drama and specifically the people he claims were circling Michael’s money.
He publicly backed Paris in her complaints. Even one of Michael’s most loyal people looked at this film and called it dishonest. Corey Feldman, who was loud in defending Michael against Leaving Neverland back in 2019, has since softened. He started saying that victims have to be heard.
He described how, as a kid, he looked to Michael as a friend and big brother figure, but then started hearing more and more accusations. At the premiere, there was a mix-up where his team apparently misread the invite and didn’t confirm him on the guest list, so he couldn’t attend. Meanwhile, another group is defending Michael hard. His nephew Taj Jackson fired back at people who hated the film, framing it as the media losing control of the story.
He wrote on X that the public will watch the movie and decide for themselves, adding, “Can’t wait until some critics have to eat crow, and yes, I will be that petty. ” Macaulay Culkin, who testified for Michael in 2005, has never changed his story. In a rare interview with Esquire, he said he never saw Michael do anything wrong and that he’d have no reason to hold anything back at this point in his life. The result is a movie getting hit from both sides at the same time.
One group calls it a lie, another calls it the truth, and every time one side talks, the other fires back. That back and forth keeps the story alive as the November 2026 court date sits on the calendar.
