For a long time, the producers of Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic that came out earlier this year, reportedly planned to include a story arc about one of the many children who accused Jackson of sexual abuse. After filming an entire third arc about Jackson's decision to settle out of court with the family of Jordan Chandler, the 13-year-old boy who first sued Jackson for abuse in 1993, the producers reportedly had to scrap that part of the movie, which showed Jackson as "the naïve victim of the money-grubbing Chandler," after lawyers discovered that the settlement forbade Jackson and his estate from including the Chandler family in a movie.
The final theatrical version of Michael simply omits all details of the sordid events of the later decades in Michael Jackson's life. The story ends with Jackson distancing himself from his domineering father at the end of the Jacksons' 1984 Victory Tour, with a quick flash-forward to Jackson performing "Bad" in London in 1987. As it fades out, a title card informs us that Jackson's story continued.
Michael, which I found to be both ridiculous and entertaining, was a blockbuster success, ultimately surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing musician biopic ever made. It earned more than a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. As I write this, it sits at #4 on the list of 2026's highest-grossing movies, behind only Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and Toy Story 5. Naturally, a sequel is in the works, and Variety recently reported that Lionsgate hopes to start production before the end of the year. Now, Michael's nephew Jaafar Jackson, who plays Michael in the movie, is talking about how the sequel will address the many abuse allegations against him. It sounds bleak.
Jaafar Jackson is the subject of a new GQ Middle East cover story, and he says that the sequel will depict the abuse allegations "from [Michael's] point of view." Here's the money quote:
I think the second film will give even more insight from his point of view, because at the end of the day, [the allegations] are always from someone else’s. It’s someone else’s story. It’s someone else’s idea of what it is, and it’s mainly driven by an agenda. And that’s really the issue we’ve been having as a family – not having Michael’s voice being heard. I think that’s very, very important, especially in the late years.
The GQ story makes it clear that Jaafar, who has no say in the screenplay is talking about what he wants to see in the movie. But as the film is being made with the full participation of Jackson's estate, we should not expect any kind of complex or truthful depiction of those moments. Here's some other stuff that Jaafar says about Michael in the profile:
Late in his life, he [was reading] like Deepak Chopra and some other gurus. He was seeking a more spiritual journey just because of, I would imagine, the type of scrutiny and the level of pressure he was probably feeling from the press, that he wanted to find that sense of peace for himself....
No matter all the stuff he went through, how he was treated, what things were said about him, he never stopped treating people with kindness. He never stopped believing in and wanting to look for the good in people… even though he was broken, his heart still stayed the same… I hope that this is felt in the second movie.
Great. Sounds riveting. You can read the GQ Middle East profile here.
