Spike Lee has defended the Michael film following significant criticism for its exclusion of the child sexual abuse allegations made against the pop icon.
The record-breaking Michael Jackson biopic charts the singer’s life from childhood up until the peak of his popularity in the late ‘80s, stopping short of featuring the allegations made against him, which he and his estate have continually denied.
The film concludes in 1988, and Jackson didn’t face his first accusation until 1993, which many of the film’s critics have taken issue with. Michael was meant to feature the allegations as part of the storyline, but a clause in a legal settlement meant that the production spent $15million on reshoots, ending the film at a different point in his life and shifting the narrative tension onto his relationship with his father, Joe (Colman Domingo).
During a recent interview with CNN, Lee defended the biopic, saying: “First of all, if you’re a movie critic, and you’re complaining about the stuff – all this other stuff – but 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.”
