Janet Jackson was asked to be in the 'Michael' movie — Why she said no

Michael Jackson's life and career are under the spotlight. "Michael," the biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua, premiered on Friday, April 24th, tracking his career progression from a child star to one of the world's defining pop stars. The film features the portrayals of various of his siblings, with the omission of Janet Jackson. La Toya Jackson explained why her sister is missing from the story. 

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At the movie's premiere in Los Angeles, La Toya revealed that Janet didn't want to be involved in the project. “I wish everybody was in the movie,” she said in an interview with Variety. “She was asked, and she kindly declined, so you have to respect her wishes.”

Janet is one of the Jackson family's most famous members, with her building a successful career in the industry and having numerous collaborations with her late brother Michael. 

LaToya shared some of the highlights of the film, including Jaafar's performance. 

“Oh my gosh, I have to tell you that Jaafar was absolutely fabulous,” she said. “I’m sure you’ve seen the movie and you know how wonderful he is, how we all forget and think that we’re watching Mike. It’s like, ‘Oh, I forgot this is Jaafar.’”

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The behind-the-scenes drama with 'Michael

"Michael" has been in development for years, with the film going through numerous rewrites, reshoots, and delays. While the film is expected to make millions of dollars at the box office, being tracked as one of the year's biggest successes, it has inspired some tensions within the Jackson family. 

While most family members have been supportive of the project, with Michael's sons, Prince and Bigi Jackson, attending the premieres, Janet and Paris have kept their distance from the project.

“I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest / didn’t sit right with me, and when they didn’t address it, I moved on with my life," wrote Paris on an Instagram story. “Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and God speed.”

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In the case of Janet, there have reportedly been disagreements with her siblings over the project. At an early screening of the film, Janet and her brother Jermaine reportedly got into a public argument due to her criticism of the film. “She had something negative about almost every scene,” said one of the guests, as reported by Page Six. “The acting, the makeup, how the actors spoke, even how they walked. It was Janet deciding against the room that this movie wasn’t going to meet her approval.”

Jermaine reportedly confronted Janet. “You are going to miss this wave,” he said. "You are so jealous — just get on the wave.” 

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