Spike Lee Defends “Michael” from Criticism Over Omitting Sex Abuse Allegations

Tommy McArdleMon, May 4, 2026 at 3:39 PM UTC

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Spike Lee on Aug. 15, 2025; Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in MichaelCredit: Michael Tullberg/Getty; Glen Wilson/Lionsgate -

Filmmaker Spike Lee stated in a new interview that he enjoyed the Michael Jackson biopic and criticized movie critics for calling attention to a lack of emphasis placed on child sex abuse allegations made against Jackson in the '90s

Michael notably ends in 1988, and multiple outlets have reported that legal complications prevented the movie from dramatizing allegations first made against Jackson in 1993

Lee notably directed two music videos for Jackson and directed a 2016 documentary on the early portions of Jackson's career

Spike Lee thinks those who are criticizing the Michael Jackson biopic for not including allegations of child sex abuse made against the late pop star are simply asking for a different movie.

Lee, 69, told CNN in a recent interview that he has already seen Michael twice since the movie hit theaters on April 24. The famed filmmaker simply stated, "Love it," when asked for his thoughts on the movie, which stars the King of Pop's real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as Michael throughout the 1970s and '80s.

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On review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes, Michael holds negative reviews from professional film critics, but positive reviews from audience members. While speaking with CNN, Lee said he thinks it's unfair that the negative reaction to the movie has centered around its exclusion of the first allegations of child sex abuse made against Michael in 1993.

"First of all, if you're a movie critic and you're complaining about the [allegations] that you know, all this other stuff, but the movie ends in '88," Lee said, when asked what he makes of the criticism against the movie. "You're talking about accusations [that] happen [later], so you're critiquing the film on something you wanted, but it doesn't work in the timeline of the film."

"But the people who showed up, they showed up worldwide," he continued. "People showed their love."

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson and Director Antoine Fuqua in 'Michael'.Credit: Glen Wilson/Lionsgate

Lee notably directed music videos for Michael's 1996 song "They Don't Care About Us" and the 2009 track "This Is It," as well as the 2016 documentary Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall. He referred to Michael, who died at 50 in 2009, and the late musician Prince as "beautiful people" during the interview.

When asked again if Lee thought it "wouldn't be appropriate" for Michael to dramatize those allegations, Lee added, "The allegations came post-'80s. The film ends in '88. So people said [rude gesture], and have seen it more than once, like me."

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The biopic of the "Thriller" singer's life has attracted as much news for what it ultimately did not depict as for what moments from Michael's life it did feature. On April 20, Michael's director Antoine Fuqua shared new details about the massive overhaul Michael underwent in 2025 after lawyers reportedly learned of a previously overlooked clause in a settlement agreement between the singer and one of his accusers in an interview with The New Yorker.

In 1993, Michael was accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. He ultimately settled with the Chandler family out of court for a reported $25 million.

The producers behind the movie had to rewrite and reshoot significant portions of the movie after lawyers realized that the settlement included an agreement that the Chandlers could never be mentioned or dramatized in a movie, per a January 2025 report from Puck.

At the time, the outlet claimed the Chandler saga was a key "backbone" of the movie, which Fuqua confirmed while speaking with The New Yorker. The outlet additionally reported that the movie was initially meant to open on the 1993 police raid on Neverland Ranch, the singer's infamous California compound, as investigations into those allegations began.

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'.Credit: Glen Wilson/Lionsgate

Despite critics' negative reaction to the movie, Michael is already the third-highest grossing movie of the year in North America and the fourth-most popular movie of the year at the box office around the world, behind Project Hail Mary, the Chinese racing movie Pegasus 3 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Variety also reported on April 7 that the movie's studio Lionsgate believes "roughly 30%" of footage shot for the movie that did not make it into Michael's final cut could be reused for a sequel. It is unclear how much of that footage involves the legal complications related to dramatizing Chandler's allegations.

The movie itself ends with a title card that reads: "His Story Continues."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”