Oscar Winner Spike Lee Defends Michael Jackson Biopic After Film Sparks Controversy

Filmmaker Spike Lee has hit back at critics of the recent musical biopic about Michael Jackson.

During a recent interview with CNN, the Oscar winner was asked for his take on Michael, which was torn apart by critics in the lead-up to its release last month, most notably due to the film’s omission of the allegations of child sexual abuse made against the Billie Jean singer in his lifetime.

Addressing “movie critics” who have been “complaining about” what he described as “this other stuff”, he pointed out: “The movie ends at ’88. The stuff you’re talking about, accusations, happen [later].

“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.”

Indeed, while Michael may have been panned by critics, its audience and box office scores skewed much more positively.

Lee – who previously directed Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us music video, and created two documentaries about the Grammy winner – added: “I miss Mike. I miss Prince. I mean, these are my brothers.

“I worked with both of them. Both beautiful, beautiful people.”

Director Antoine Fuqua had initially intended to include the allegations against Jackson in Michael, and even shot a scene recreating the police raid on the Neverland ranch.

However, after these sequences were filmed, the Jackson estate discovered a clause in a contract between the late performer and one of his accusers, forbidding the latter’s name or likeness from ever being depicted in a movie.

As a result, Fuqua brought back the cast and crew for costly reshoots, and made the decision to end the film in 1988, before the allegations came to light.

It has been repeatedly suggested that a sequel to Michael could be in the works, which would address these accusations as well as other controversies surrounding Jackson in his later years.