Michael Jackson Family Reacts to Joseph Fiennes' 'Urban Myths' Casting
- by Leland Aguilar
- in Entertaiment
- — Jan 13, 2017
Fans aren't the only ones feeling disturbed over the upcoming comedy Urban Myths' first trailer showing Joseph Fiennes as the Michael Jackson; the late pop icon's family is upset as well.
On Wednesday, the MJCast, a Michael Jackson podcast that has called to boycott Urban Myths, tweeted at Paris asking her thoughts on the trailer. "It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother Liz as well", she added on Twitter, subtly reminding the world that she is Taylor's goddaughter.
The comedy, which is 30-minutes long, tells the story of a documented Vanity Fair article which claims Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando fled New York City for OH together and took a road trip in a rental auto in the wake of 9/11.
The story about Jackson casts Fiennes in a re-imagined tale of a road trip across the United States that the "Thriller" singer is said to have taken in 2001 with movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando.
"Where is the respect?" she questioned. "He would never have wanted this".
The film, which airs on January 19 on Sky Arts in the United Kingdom, is described as a comedy, not a biopic.
At the time when it was announced that actor Joseph Fiennes would take on the role of Michael, many voiced their outrage that a white man would play the music legend.
The author of the petition, Julie Rodriguez, wrote: "This casting is an insult to the very real professional struggles and health issues Jackson dealt with during his lifetime".
The petition reads: 'It's bad enough when actors of color are denied opportunities to play fictional characters of their own ethnicity due to the preferential treatment of white actors.
However, Ben Palmer, who directed four episodes of the series, has defended the decision, saying it was based on performance and not looks.