‘Leaving Neverland’ Director Rips Jaafar Jackson’s ‘Wooden’ Performance
“The first part of Michael as a kid, I could buy that,” Reed explained Varietybefore launching an attack on the King of Pop’s cousin’s performance.
“But as soon as we get to the adult Jackson, played by his cousin Jaafar, my bubble burst. I thought, he’s a great dancer, but his performance is very wooden, and one of the reasons for that is he didn’t really have a script to work from.”
Reed raged, “He becomes a wax figure performing these jukebox songs, but there’s no insight into what makes Jackson tick. He’s this asexual plastic action figure of a figure in the movie. And of course, the issue of his relationship with children is completely distorted by the fact that they portray him as an eccentric, overgrown child, which we know is not the whole story.”
The Emmy winner then called out Jackson’s family, accusing them of trying to protect his legacy by “whitewashing” his alleged sexual attacks on children.
“Why are they dancing around this?” Before claiming, Reed wondered, “It is well known that Jackson spent long periods of time with his companions, including putting them to bed at night and locking the door, which is undisputed – and that alone, if anyone files a claim, is likely enough to convict him in court of child sexual abuse – but with Jackson, none of this seems to matter.”
He added, “And neither the estate, nor the film’s writer, nor anyone else has provided an alternate story other than, oh, he didn’t have a childhood, so he had to spend the night alone with the kids, which makes no sense…”
Reed claimed the Thriller hitmaker has been “given attributes of a deity, but there was a human Jackson, and he was what we know him to be. As a documentary filmmaker, I was focused on telling the story of Wade and James — not Jackson’s story.”
The biopic ends in 1988, five years before 13-year-old Jordan Chandler would accuse Jackson of touching him inappropriately. The two settled out of court in 1994 for $23 million.
In response to the allegations against Jackson, the biopic’s director Antoine Fuqua said: “Sometimes people do bad things for money.” Reed wasn’t having it, though.
“Someone who has made tens of millions spreading a false story about a man who is a pedophile, that’s a nasty thing,” Reed said angrily in his interview. “Mr. Fuqua has described his own actions trying to smear the protagonists of my documentary, and that makes me laugh.”
The biopic grossed $219 million worldwide in its opening weekend, including nearly $100 million from North America alone.
Colman Domingo, who plays the legendary entertainer’s cruel father Joe Jackson in the film, defended the biopic, explaining that the film “does not address the initial allegations” against the superstar because it is set before the first claims emerged and focuses on the rise of his music career.
“We’re focusing on Michael’s merits, so it’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is,” the Oscar-nominated actor said, before hinting that the allegations could be detailed in a potential sequel.
While the majority of the Jackson family appears to support the film, his daughter Paris previously stated: “…The story is fact-checked, and there are a lot of inaccuracies and a lot of big lies. Ultimately, I can’t accept it. Enjoy it. Do whatever. But don’t involve me.”
About 30 percent of the footage was originally shot Michael went unused and could be used for a possible sequel instead.
