The Michael biopic officially opens in theaters today, April 24, and while much of the Jackson family has rallied behind it, one voice has been consistently and pointedly absent from the celebrations — Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris.
This isn’t a passive distance. Paris, 28, has been one of the film’s most vocal critics since she first read an early draft of the script, and her position hasn’t softened as the release date arrived. Now that the film is in theaters and critics have weighed in, her warnings are looking harder to dismiss.
She Said It Months Ago — Nobody Listened
GettyParis’s issues with the biopic go back further than most fans realize. When she read an early version of the script, she submitted notes flagging what she described as dishonest portrayals. The production did not address them. Her response at the time was direct: “I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest and 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.”
That might have been the end of it — except the film kept being publicly linked to her. When actor Colman Domingo, who plays Joe Jackson, told People that Paris was “very much in support” of the project, she pushed back immediately, clarifying she had zero involvement and calling out the mischaracterization directly.
In more recent comments, she expanded on her position, calling the biopic “Hollywood fantasy” that is “sold to you as real.” She said the narrative was being controlled, and that the film contained “a lot of inaccuracy and a lot of full-blown lies.” When fans accused her of resenting her father, she shut that down too. “That’s not my truth,” she said. “I just prefer honesty over sales and monetary gain.”
She Skipped the Premiere — Even as Bigi Showed Up
The LA premiere on Monday was a major event. Prince Jackson attended as executive producer. LaToya Jackson walked the red carpet. Several Jackson family members turned out in support. Paris was not among them.
What makes her absence notable is the contrast with her brother Bigi, the most private of Michael’s three children, who attended the earlier Berlin premiere in April. Even he showed up. Paris’s decision to stay away from both premieres was a deliberate statement, not an oversight.
The Critics Are Echoing Her
Here is where Paris’s long-standing criticism gains new weight. As of this week, the Michael biopic holds a 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have pointed to significant omissions in the story — most notably, scenes covering the 1993 accusations against Jackson were cut after lawyers discovered a decades-old settlement prohibited their portrayal in any film. The result, several reviewers have noted, is a portrait that feels incomplete and sanitized.
That is almost exactly what Paris described. “The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy,” she said, adding that the biopic presents Hollywood’s version of her father, not the full one.
Where the Family Stands
To be clear, Paris is not the whole story. Prince Jackson’s involvement as executive producer and his daily presence on set represents genuine family investment in the project. Nephew Taj Jackson defended the film publicly this week, telling critics online that the public would now decide for themselves who Michael Jackson truly was. LaToya praised Jaafar’s performance as almost indistinguishable from watching her brother.
The Jackson family is not unified against this film. But it is not unified behind it either. And of all the voices that have spoken up, Paris Jackson’s has been the most consistent, the most specific, and — given today’s critical reception — arguably the most accurate.
