Janet Jackson and her brother Jermaine Jackson are reportedly feuding over Michael Jackson’s new biopic.
The drama reportedly began after Michael’s family gathered in Los Angeles earlier this month to screen Michael, starring Jermaine’s son Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, per Page Six. According to the outlet, Janet, 59, picked apart the project the moment the film ended.
“She had something negative about almost every scene,” an individual present at the screening told Page Six on Wednesday, March 11. “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, 71, allegedly condemned his sister’s criticism after he and the majority of the 60 family members on site appeared to like the movie. (TMZ reported on Wednesday that Janet was asked to join the production but declined.)
“You are going to miss this wave,” Jermaine reportedly told Janet, according to one family insider who allegedly witnessed the exchange. “You are so jealous — just get on the wave.”
Page Six reported that Jermaine considers the new biopic, which hits theaters on Friday, April 24, as a way to put their famous family back in a positive light after Michael faced multiple high-profile allegations of child sex abuse in both life and after his 2009 death. (Michael denied all allegations while he was alive and his family has maintained his innocence.)
In addition to the film, Michael’s estate and family have made new licensing deals to keep his memory alive, including the creation of Broadway’s MJ: The Musical, which opened in 2022.
“We keep looking for that moment again, [but] only Michael can give us that and he’s not even with us anymore,” one relative told the outlet after seeing the movie. “But look at the talk this movie has generated worldwide.
The relative added, “This isn’t just about Michael. It’s about us. It’s about our legacy. It’s about the comeback in store for all of us.”
Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Janet and Jermaine for comment.
Janet isn’t the only member of Michael’s family who chose not to be part of the new film. His daughter, Paris Jackson, denied in September 2025 that she had any involvement.
“Don’t be telling people I was ‘helpful’ on the set of a movie I had 0 percent involvement in lol. That is so weird,” Paris, 27, wrote via her Instagram Story after one of the film’s stars Coleman Domingo told People that she and brother Prince Jackson were “very much in support of our film.”
Paris continued, “I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest [and] didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and godspeed.”
Domingo, who plays the family patriarch Joe Jackson in the new film, told the Wall Street Journal Magazine earlier this month that his words were taken out of context.
“I hope that she eventually loves the tribute that we made about her father,” Domingo, 56, said of Paris, one of Michael’s three children he left behind following his death.
Michael shared Prince, 29, and Paris with Deborah Jeanne Rowe. Michael’s youngest child, son Bigi Jackson, was born via surrogate in 2002.
Michael died in June 2009 at the age of 50.
