{"id":579472,"date":"2026-04-03T11:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/579472\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:23:10","slug":"jaafar-jackson-says-memories-of-uncle-michael-jackson-are-wonderful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/579472\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaafar Jackson says memories of uncle Michael Jackson are ‘wonderful’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaafar Jackson<\/a> was just 12 when Michael Jackson<\/a> died in 2009, but the Hollywood newcomer can still recall the “wonderful times” he had with his superstar uncle.<\/p>\n

In his first TV interview ahead of the release of the Antoine Fuqua biopic “Michael”<\/a> on April 24, in which Jaafar plays Jackson, the 29-year-old actor on April 2 briefly reminisced about his childhood on “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

“I remember … we would have family time. Michael would come over to where I was growing up at Hayvenhurst [estate] and we\u2019d have some days where we’d all get together, play family game day,” he told Jenna Bush Hager and guest host Willie Geist.<\/p>\n

He continued, “We\u2019d have wonderful times at Neverland and just playing hide-and-go-seek, eating as much candy, going on rides, watching movies. It was all fun.”<\/p>\n

Jackson died from an accidental drug overdose at 50; his personal doctor, Conrad Murray<\/a> was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served two years in jail.<\/p>\n

\"Jaafar<\/p>\n

Jaafar Jackson, left, plays his uncle, Michael Jackson (right) in the 2026 biopic “Michael.”<\/p>\n

See the ‘Michael’ trailer: Jaafar Jackson makes major transformation<\/a><\/p>\n

Katherine Jackson ‘couldn’t tell if it was me or Michael’: Jaafar Jackson<\/p>\n

Jaafar \u2013 the second youngest son of Jermaine Jackson<\/a>, Michael’s brother and former Jackson 5 member \u2013 told the hosts that he’s received “heartwarming” support from his father and the rest of his family, including grandmother Katherine Jackson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 95-year-old Jackson family matriarch saw the film and “said how excellent I did and how much I embodied Michael,” Jaafar shared. He added, “There were moments she couldn’t tell if it was me or Michael. And to me, that’s all I needed to hear. It’s definitely the highest compliment that I could get.”<\/p>\n

Revisiting Michael Jackson’s life and legacy in photos<\/p>\n

1 of 16<\/p>\n

Jackson performs an open-air concert in West Berlin on June 19, 1988.<\/p>\n

In a Lionsgate press release issued prior to production, Katherine Jackson put her stamp of approval on her grandson’s casting, saying in a statement that “Jaafar embodies my son.”<\/p>\n

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to pull this off if I didn’t have the support,” Jaafar said.<\/p>\n

Paris Jackson has criticized the biopic about her dad, Michael Jackson<\/p>\n

His cousin, Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson, has not been as encouraging when it comes to a film she’s described as “sugar-coated.” She reportedly<\/a> took to her Instagram stories in September, per The Guardian<\/a>, and revealed she gave notes about what was “dishonest\/didn\u2019t sit right” with her about the first drafts of the script, then “moved on” after the team “didn’t address” her concerns.<\/p>\n

“A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad\u2019s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they\u2019re gonna be happy with it,” Paris wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Judah<\/p>\n

Judah Edwards as Young Tito, Jaylen Hunter as Young Marlon, Juliano Krue Valdi as a young Michael Jackson, Nathaniel McIntyre as Young Jackie and Jayden Harville as Young Jermaine in the “Michael” biopic.<\/p>\n

“Michael” is releasing against the backdrop of ongoing legal battles between Jackson’s sexual assault accusers and his estate.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Jackson’s estate scored a win<\/a> as representatives take legal action against a former Jackson family friend\u00a0whom they’ve accused of extortion<\/a>. The Jackson estate’s petition to compel arbitration was granted in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 10, meaning the parties can take their legal battle against accuser Frank Cascio<\/a> out of court.<\/p>\n

Wade Robson and James Safechuck<\/a> \u2013 who were featured in the 2019 HBO documentary\u00a0“Leaving Neverland”<\/a>\u00a0and allege Michael Jackson\u00a0sexually abused them<\/a>\u00a0for years when they were boys \u2013 are still engaged in a court battle<\/a> over their longtime claims.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN\u2019s\u00a0National Sexual Assault Hotline<\/a>\u00a0offers free, confidential, 24\/7 support in English and Spanish via chat and at 800-656-4673.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jaafar Jackson says Michael Jackson memories are ‘wonderful’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaafar Jackson was just 12 when Michael Jackson died in 2009, but the Hollywood newcomer can still recall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,122898,29270,190724,122901,17235,341,58852],"class_list":{"0":"post-579472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-jaafar-jackson","12":"tag-jenna-bush-hager","13":"tag-jermaine-jackson","14":"tag-katherine-jackson","15":"tag-michael-jackson","16":"tag-music","17":"tag-paris-jackson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}