Bill Maher took repeated shots at the “Michael” biopic for sidestepping the child abuse allegations Michael Jackson faced in his lifetime.
The comedian first referenced the Antoine Fuqua-directed movie at the tail-end of his monologue for Friday’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” where he mentioned that the Michael Jackson movie opened with “showings at 7, 9 and 11, just like the victims.”
Maher touched on the controversial film again during the “New Rules” segment that closed out the episode. “New rule: If you complain about Columbus Day because it ignores the fact he killed Indians, and you complain about Presidents’ Day because it ignores the fact that Washington owned slaved, then you can’t happily go see a movie where Michael Jackson doesn’t sleep with kids,” Maher sounded off. “Which is the movie that’s out now, where we just hear about the fun things Michael did.”
He added: “It’s playing a double bill with ‘Jeffrey Epstein: Superhost Extraordinaire’ and ‘John Wayne Gacy: Thanks for the Laughter.’”
Maher then took aim at the movie again during his commentary on grocery items, where he lamented about how new food products made him feel like he was “flirting with statutory rape.”
“What’s with very young small sweet peas and mini tater tots and baby carrots and extra virgin olive oil,” Maher quipped. “Gee, if I wanted to feel this pervy, I’ll go see the Michael Jackson movie.”
Maher’s digs at “Michael” came after the director, stars and Jackson family spoke out in defense of the movie. Specifically, ahead of the film’s release, Fuqua confirmed to the New Yorker that he initially planned to touch on Jackson’s 2003 arrest, sharing, “I shot [Michael] being stripped naked, treated like an animal, a monster.”
Per the outlet, Fuqua had initially “envisioned a film that might have read as a provocative defense of its subject,” before an agreement in Michael Jackson’s settlement with the Chandler family — who accused the singer of sexually abusing their 13-year-old son, something Jackson denied — derailed this plan. Namely, the $23 million settlement forbade the Jackson estate from participating in depictions of events tied to the allegation.
Colman Domingo and Nia Long, who play the Jackson patriarch and matriarch, respectively, then appeared on “Today” and offered their explanation as to why the film avoided the child abuse allegations.
“The film takes place from the ’60s to 1988. It does not go into the first allegations in 2005,” Domingo said on Wednesday. “So, basically, we center it on the makings of Michael. It’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is …through his eyes.”
After the film was mostly panned by critics online, Jackson’s nephews, TJ and Taj Jackson, spoke out in defense of the film. While TJ said that late singer and his fans deserved this movie, Taj slammed the media for trying to “control the narrative” of who Jackson was.
The singer faced 10 charges in 2005 tied to the alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old, who was not Jordan Chandler. After denying all of the allegations against him and participating in a 14-week trial, Jackson was acquitted on all counts. However, the controversy resurfaced in 2019 when a documentary, titled “Leaving Neverland,” brought about new allegations from two of Jackson’s alleged victims.
“Michael,” which stars Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, as the titular pop star, is playing in theaters now.
The post Bill Maher Torches ‘Michael’ Biopic for Dodging Abuse Allegations: ‘Showings at 7, 9 and 11—Like the Victims’ appeared first on TheWrap.
