The Jackson family gathered quietly in Los Angeles last week for what insiders expected would be a triumphant moment.<\/p>\n
Instead, sources say, the private screening of the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic exploded into a family confrontation \u2014 exposing long-simmering tensions over the King of Pop\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n
More than 60 members of the Jackson clan packed into a private Los Angeles showing of Michael, which hits Aussie cinemas on April 23<\/a> and stars Jermaine Jackson\u2019s son, Jaafar Jackson, as his legendary uncle.<\/p>\n At first, the mood inside the room was electric, several insiders at the screening told Page Six. Relatives laughed, clapped and leaned forward in their seats as the film recreated moments from Michael\u2019s rise from child prodigy out of Gary, Indiana, to the most famous entertainer on the planet.<\/p>\n Stream Inside the Mind: Michael Jackson on BINGE<\/a>, available on Hubbl<\/a>.<\/p>\n But within minutes of the lights coming up at the end, the atmosphere shifted dramatically when Janet Jackson, 59, began dissecting the film with brutal precision, according to multiple people in the room.<\/p>\n The superstar singer \u2014 one of the family\u2019s most powerful figures and the second most successful artist after Michael \u2014 reportedly criticised everything, from the performances to the makeup.<\/p>\n \u201cShe had something negative about almost every scene,\u201d said one person present at the screening.<\/p>\n \u201cThe acting, the makeup, how the actors spoke, even how they walked. It was Janet deciding against the room that this movie wasn\u2019t going to meet her approval.\u201d<\/p>\n The critique stunned some relatives, who had expected the family to all rally behind the project. Others say the moment reflected deeper divisions that have been simmering for years.<\/p>\n Janet has been one of the most visible family members backing Michael\u2019s daughter, Paris Jackson, 27, in her ongoing legal fight against his estate \u2014 a dispute that has fuelled tension among siblings, cousins and advisors who disagree over how the late singer\u2019s empire should be run.<\/p>\n But, insiders told Page Six, Jermaine Jackson, 71, had enough and stood up and sharply confronted Janet.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are going to miss this wave,\u201d Jermaine told his sister, according to one family insider who witnessed the exchange. \u201cYou are so jealous \u2014 just get on the wave.\u201d<\/p>\n The blunt exchange stunned several in the room, particularly younger family members who had not previously witnessed such open disagreement between Michael\u2019s immediate siblings.<\/p>\n Many relatives in the room support Jermaine, who has been heavily involved with the movie, and the casting of Jaafar, who grew up around his uncle\u2019s music and mannerisms.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old has been widely praised by those who have seen early cuts of the film for capturing Michael\u2019s voice, posture and dance style.<\/p>\n Family insiders say Jermaine has privately viewed the project as a moment of redemption for the Jackson brand \u2014 and the biggest opportunity since Michael\u2019s 2009 death to reconnect with audiences who once followed the family with near-religious devotion.<\/p>\n That memory was marred by Michael\u2019s tragic end, overdosing on a cocktail of drugs, and persistent allegations against him of child abuse \u2014 although he was never convicted of any such crime while alive.<\/p>\n The estate and family have made new licensing deals and the Broadway hit \u201cMJ: The Musical\u201d to preserve his musica legacy.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody in that room knows that Michael was lightning in a bottle,\u201d the source said. \u201cYou can\u2019t recreate him. But you can remind the world what he meant.\u201d<\/p>\n One family member summed up the mood bluntly after the screening ended.<\/p>\n \u201cWe keep looking for that moment again, [but] only Michael can give us that and he\u2019s not even with us anymore,\u201d the relative said. \u201cBut look at the talk this movie has generated worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about Michael. It\u2019s about us. It\u2019s about our legacy. It\u2019s about the comeback in store for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n This article originally appeared in Page Six<\/a> and was reproduced with permission<\/p>\n Read related topics:Binge<\/a>Foxtel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jackson family gathered quietly in Los Angeles last week for what insiders expected would be a triumphant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[264615,2620,2095,264628,64,63,689,264620,485,13876,264617,185065,264630,264616,264627,134,264625,264634,264632,657,264635,214340,2105,264631,12268,234475,91139,481,136,254793,251614,2041,2067,677,264623,264621,6026,264624,264619,264618,264622,264633,264629,2614,264626],"class_list":["post-533047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-actors-spoke","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-america","tag-angela-weiss","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-biopic-screening","tag-california","tag-child-abuse","tag-child-molestation","tag-child-prodigy","tag-connie-aramaki","tag-dad-joe","tag-dance-style","tag-entertainment","tag-explosive-confrontation","tag-family-confrontation","tag-family-insiders","tag-family-members","tag-famous-entertainer","tag-gary","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-glen-wilson","tag-indiana","tag-jaafar-jackson","tag-kevin-mazur","tag-los-angeles","tag-music","tag-ncaeditorialbinge","tag-nia-long","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-official-biopic-trailermichael","tag-open-disagreement","tag-paris-jackson","tag-positive-reaction","tag-private-screening","tag-room-support","tag-scott-flynn","tag-superstar-singer","tag-title-role","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-visible-family-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}