Spike Lee stood firm behind Antoine Fuqua's new biopic "Michael," dismissing critics who say the film ignores child sexual abuse allegations that later defined much of Michael Jackson’s public life.
As the movie enters a strong second weekend at the box office, the three-time Oscar winner argued that the controversy simply doesn't fit the story being told.
"First of all, if you're a movie critic, and you're complaining about the stuff, all this other stuff — but the movie ends at '88," Lee told CNN.
He pointed out that because the film tracks Jackson's life from his childhood in the Jackson 5 to his peak "King of Pop" era in 1988, the timeline doesn't reach the 1993 or 2003 allegations.
"So you're critiquing the film on something that you want in, but it doesn't work in the timeline of the film. But people showed up. Worldwide, people showed their love."
Lee, who worked with Jackson and Prince, described the late icons as his "brothers" and "beautiful, beautiful people."
This effort to humanizing the star is a major theme for director Fuqua, who told Deadline that the film was designed to show "who he was on the stage" and explore the personality that shaped him.
Fuqua defended the narrow focus, explaining that jumping straight into the allegations would leave the audience without proper context.
"The movie is called 'Michael,' so you have to focus on Michael," Fuqua noted, adding that movies can foster empathy to show that "no one is perfect."
Behind the scenes, the road to the screen wasn't a straight line. An original cut of the film was reportedly more than 3 1/2 hours long and included an accuser in the finale, Deadline noted.
However, that ending hit a legal obstacle because a previous settlement with the Jackson estate guaranteed that the individual would never be portrayed on screen.
To address this, the production underwent 22 days of reshoots last May to film a new ending, leading Lionsgate to consider splitting the project into two parts.
While the current film stops before the legal battles began, Fuqua said they "planted the seeds" to potentially explore those later years in a sequel.
Jackson was acquitted on all counts in 2005 after being charged in 2003 with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of intoxicating a minor.
Despite the acquittal and Jackson’s death in 2009, new accusers have continued to come forward.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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