Paris Jackson has criticised an upcoming biopic of her father, Michael Jackson, saying she had “zero per cent involvement” in the film, which she suggests has been “sugar-coated” in a broader swipe at Hollywood biopics that contain “full-blown lies”.
The comments came just two days after the actor Colman Domingo, who plays the family patriarch Joe Jackson in the film Michael, praised Paris’s contribution.
On Sunday, while hosting the amfAR benefit gala for Aids research at Venice film festival, Domingo told People magazine that Paris and her brother Prince were “very much in support of our film”.
Domingo said Paris had been “nothing but lovely and warm” to him. “I’m excited to be here at Amfar tonight with Paris,” he said. “It feels like that’s a nice way for us to be together.”
On Tuesday night Paris took to Instagram to reject Domingo’s version of events.
“Don’t be telling people I was ‘helpful’ on the set of a movie I had zero per cent involvement in lol that is so weird,” the 27-year-old singer and actor wrote.
“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.
“Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and God speed.”
She later expanded on her comments in follow-up Instagram stories, saying she had been explicitly told the production would not address her notes.
“So I just butted out and left it alone because it’s not my project,” she said. “They’re going to make whatever they’re going to make. A big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it.
“A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”
Paris continued to critique the “sugar-coated” Hollywood biopic model generally: “The narrative is being controlled and there’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of just full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. Go enjoy it. Do whatever. Leave me out of it.”
The biopic, which has been produced in conjunction with the Jackson estate, has been gestating since at least 2019.
It attracted controversy when Puck magazine reported that the film was facing rewrites and reshoots after a third-act plotline about one of Michael Jackson’s accusers could not be used for legal reasons.
A source close to the production denied the reports. “The Michael Jackson biopic is not in total chaos,” the source told People at the time. “The inflammatory headlines about the movie halting are simply not true.”
Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew, will make his feature debut as the pop megastar in the biopic, whose cast also includes Miles Teller, Nia Long and Kat Graham.
Michael is set for release on 24 April 2026.
The Guardian has contacted representatives for Domingo, as well as the biopic’s production company, for comment.
