{"id":631406,"date":"2026-04-26T05:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T05:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631406\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T05:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T05:16:11","slug":"kat-graham-says-her-scenes-as-diana-ross-in-michael-jackson-biopic-were-cut-due-to-legal-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631406\/","title":{"rendered":"Kat Graham says her scenes as Diana Ross in Michael Jackson biopic were cut due to legal issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kat Graham has shed light on the reason her scenes were cut from the newly released Michael Jackson<\/a>\u00a0biopic,\u00a0Michael<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, it was announced that The Vampire Diaries star would portray Diana Ross<\/a>, which at the time, Graham described as a \u201cprivilege\u201d, saying it was an honour to be \u201csupporting the retelling of such a pivotal era in our music history\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, on Thursday (April 23), a day before the film hit UK cinemas, Graham took to her official social media pages to explain why she no longer appears in the Antoine Fuqua-helmed film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to share that certain legal considerations affected a few scenes, including ones I filmed with an incredible cast,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, those moments are no longer part of the final cut, though the team worked hard to preserve as much of the story as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/r8L9SROzB1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kat Graham (@KatGraham) April 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The film underwent major reshoots after the third act of the film was deemed unusable. According to a recent\u00a0Variety<\/a>\u00a0report, the film\u2019s third act was initially\u00a0supposed to explore how Jackson was impacted by multiple allegations of child molestation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0Jackson\u2019s estate reportedly had to pay around $15million for reshoots<\/a> after it emerged that the singer\u2019s out-of-court settlement with Jordan Chandler, the first of his accusers, included a clause barring Chandler from being depicted on screen. While Graham didn\u2019t specify, her part in the film was likely axed due to those changes.<\/p>\n

NME gave the film three stars<\/a>, with Nick Levine noting that the omission of key figures in Jackson\u2019s life, including Ross and his sister Janet<\/a>, was \u201cbizarre\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael feels like a job well done: it\u2019s a slick, accessible advert for Jackson\u2019s incredible imperial phase,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut if the singer\u2019s estate wanna be startin\u2019 somethin\u2019 bigger like a film franchise, they\u2019ll have their work cut out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson shared a close relationship with Ross after the pair met during his time as a child star with the Jackson 5, and she defended him after the release of Leaving Neverland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The HBO documentary focused on allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who both said the late pop star sexually abused them when they were children. Jackson denied any wrongdoing until his death in 2009.<\/p>\n

After the film\u2019s release in 2019, she took to social media to say: \u201cThis is what\u2019s on my heart this morning. I believe and trust that Michael Jackson was and is A magnificent incredible force to me and to many others.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recently, Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed has <\/a>criticised the new biopic and claimed that the musician was \u201cworse than Jeffrey Epstein\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n