Paris Jackson and her aunt Janet Jackson were noticeably missing as many of their family members gathered in Los Angeles for the premiere of the new Michael Jackson biopic, Michael.
Michael’s siblings Jermaine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson and Jackie Jackson were all in attendance at the Monday, April 20, event, as was Paris’ brother Prince, 29. Michael’s other son, Bigi, 24, seemingly wasn’t present on Monday, but he previously stepped out at the film’s Berlin premiere earlier this month.
Michael, which hits theaters Friday, April 24, follows the early career of the late King of Pop, who is played in the film by his nephew Jaafar Jackson. Jaafar, 29, is the son of Michael’s older brother Jermaine, 71. (Michael died at age 50 in 2009.)
Paris, 28, criticized the movie last year after actor Colman Domingo — who plays Michael’s late father, Joe Jackson — reportedly claimed that she helped him prepare for the role.
“@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 via Instagram Story in September 2025. “I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my thoughts on 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.”
In additional Story posts, she added, “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.”
She went on to describe the film as “sugarcoated,” writing, “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. … 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.”
Janet, meanwhile, has not publicly commented on the project, and Variety reported earlier this month that she is not a character in the movie.
Last month, Page Six claimed that Janet, 59, clashed with her family after Jermaine privately screened the film for the Jackson family.
“She had something negative about almost every scene,” an individual present at the screening told the outlet in March. “The acting, the makeup, how the actors spoke, even how they walked. It was Janet deciding against the room that this movie wasn’t going to meet her approval.”
Jermaine reportedly told his sister that she would “miss the wave” if she didn’t get on board with the project. “You are so jealous — just get on the wave,” he allegedly said.
Page Six reported that Jermaine sees the new biopic as a way to portray the Jackson family positively after Michael faced multiple high-profile allegations of child sex abuse both before and after his 2009 death. (Michael denied all allegations while he was alive and his family has maintained his innocence.)
“We keep looking for that moment again, [but] only Michael can give us that and he’s not even with us anymore,” one relative told the outlet after the screening. “This isn’t just about Michael. It’s about us. It’s about our legacy. It’s about the comeback in store for all of us.”
Janet’s nephew Austin Brown and her longtime creative director, Gil Dudulao, however, later claimed that the feud reports were untrue.
Us Weekly reached out to reps for Janet and Jermaine at the time.
