In case you didn’t know, Michael Jackson’s legendary life story is about to get the biopic treatment in 2026. The upcoming flick—which is simply titled Michael—is produced by co-executors of the singer’s estate, John Branca and John McClain, as well as the late singer’s son, Prince Jackson. The King of Pop’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, will take on the coveted role of his famous uncle, while Colman Domingo is set to play Michael’s dad, Joe Jackson.
Colman recently spoke about how two of Michael’s three children—Prince and Paris Jackson—are involved with the project during an interview, but Paris has since clapped back at the Sing Sing actor’s statement and claimed she has nothing to do with the film. Confused? Same here—that’s why we’re breaking down the unexpected Michael biopic drama between Paris Jackson and Colman Domingo.
It all (kind of) began when Colman was cast as Michael Jackson’s dad in the biopic.
There wasn’t much drama surrounding Colman’s casting news in January 2024, but that’s where this whole saga kind of starts.
At the time, he told Deadline, “I’m excited to be a part of a film that explores both the complicated soul of the legendary Michael Jackson as well as his impact on music and culture as a global icon.”
He added, “Not only am I fortunate to have a rich, complex, and flawed character to portray in Joe Jackson, but I also have a front row seat for Jaafar [Jackson]’s incredible transformation. After seeing him in rehearsal, my mind was blown. There is something divine about the way that Jaafar is channeling his late uncle. His talent and embodiment of Michael’s essence is simply on another level.”
Nearly 2 years later, he spoke about Paris and Prince when asked about the upcoming film.
The Oscar nominee (who recently starred in Sabrina Carpenter’s “Tears” music video) hosted the amfAR benefit gala in Venice on August 31, where People asked him about the status of the biopic.
He left the outlet with a seemingly sweet sentiment about Michael’s children, Prince and Paris, saying, “They’re very much in support of our film. I’m excited to be here at amfAR tonight with Paris. It feels like that’s a nice way for us to be together.”
“We’ve chatted briefly,” he said of Paris, adding, “But her brother is very much a fan of the film. He’s also a producer on the film as well. But Paris has been nothing but lovely and warm.”
Moving along...
Paris called Colman out and dismissed that she was involved with the movie.
On September 2, Paris called Colman out for bringing her up in a conversation related to the film, which she claims she isn’t working on.
“@kingofbingo, don’t be telling people I was ‘helpful’ on the set of a movie I had 0% involvement in lol. That is so weird,” she wrote alongside a selfie on her Instagram Stories.
In another slide, she 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. not my monkeys not my circus. god bless and god speed.”
Paris then clarified that she wasn’t part of the film in a series of clips posted to her Stories. According to her, she has more than a few issues with the upcoming biopic about her late father’s life.
“I wasn’t involved at all, aside from giving feedback on the first draft and then getting the feedback that [production] was not actually going to address your notes at all,” she said.
She went on to add, “So I just butted out and left it alone because it’s not my project. 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.”
Colman has yet to respond to Paris on this, so stand by for more!
