Jaafar Jackson may have just cleared up one of the biggest lingering questions surrounding this year's Michael Jackson biopic: why his aunt, Janet Jackson, was nowhere to be found in it.
Jaafar, who stars as his late uncle in Antoine Fuqua's Michael, addressed the singer's absence in a recent interview. Rather than pointing to a family rift, he suggested the reasoning might be far simpler — and far more personal. According to Jaafar, Janet "has ideas of maybe doing her own film," and floated that she may not have wanted to be portrayed by another actor in someone else's project while she has plans to eventually tell her own story on her own terms. He trailed off before finishing the thought, leaving fans to fill in the blanks.
It's a notable pivot from the theories that have circulated since Michael was first announced. Speculation about tension within the Jackson family has followed the project for years, fuelled in part by the fact that several relatives — Janet among them — were not part of the film in any capacity.
That narrative was pushed back on earlier this year by La Toya Jackson, who addressed her sister's absence directly at the film's premiere. La Toya said Janet was invited to participate but turned the offer down, adding that fans simply “have to respect her wishes.” She also had high praise for her nephew's performance, saying the resemblance was uncanny enough to make her forget she wasn't watching Michael himself.
As of now, Janet Jackson has not publicly confirmed Jaafar's account or commented on whether a biopic of her own is actually in development. Given her decades-long career — from Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 to her own headline-making moments in pop culture — a Janet Jackson biopic is exactly the kind of project her fanbase has been asking for long before this comment surfaced.
Michael, directed by Fuqua from a script by John Logan, hit theatres in April and has been billed as just the first chapter of Michael Jackson's story, with Jaafar teasing a possible sequel that would dig deeper into the more difficult chapters of his uncle's life. Whether Janet's own project ever gets off the ground remains to be seen — but for now, it's officially on fans' radar.
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.